The Eternal Chimera
by kamizon
Summary: Minato and Kushina both had their own secrets only they knew. How do those secrets affect Naruto and the Kyuubi? naruxfemkyuu naruxfemhaku. THIS IS NOT AN ORIGINAL STORY. AUTHORED BY SUPERFISH01 WHO HAS GONE M.I.A. I'VE DECIDED TO TO TAKE IT UP, CORRECT IT, ADD SOME AND COMPLETE, OF-COURSE ALL WITH PERMISSION.
1. Prologue

First off a disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Secondly, just a few ground rules for reviewing. Don't feel compelled to review. I know many authors do make requests that readers do review, but I'm personally too bothered. If you're not happy with the story and you want to leave very harsh criticism feel free to do so; all I ask is that you include what you dislike or something to improve on

Example 1:

"You suck and I wish you would just jump off of a bridge and end all of our misery." Something like this will be simply ignored.

Example 2

"You suck and I wish you would just jump off of a bridge and end all of our misery. Your plot line is pathetic, your grammar and spelling sucks and finally there are so many plot holes in the story it's like Swiss cheese. Just stop writing." While harsh I don't mind receiving this as it tells me why I suck.

The third note is that this fic will borrow from Fire Emblem (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn), though no character from either will emerge, just ideas with some minor changes. That being said, I do not own Fire Emblem either.

Finally, as unlikely as it is; if you like something from my fic and want to use it for our own don't bother asking, just take it. I'm not particularly fussed if you get permission or give credit, just don't go claiming that you had the idea first and then insisting that I should take my fic off. I won't be too impressed if this happens.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

letter

++++++++ change of scene ++++++++

Chapter One: Prologue

It was night time in Konoha, though one could be forgiven if you had said it was a warm summer's day. Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, was under attack. The attacker was not the army of an enemy village, the attacker was not even human, it was a blood red fox of monstrous proportions. The fox was by all definitions a demon and as such had a fitting title; Kyuubi no Youko. The attack left the village in flames burning so bright creating that illusion that night was day, the heat from these flames so intense that it could be felt all throughout the village.

The fox had appeared 15 weeks ago for some unknown reason, it had been roaming the country side, apparently in search of something, then one fell night it started on a rampage, killing all who stood in its way.

The ninja of Konoha were not simply going to let this demon destroy their home, everything that they had worked so hard to rebuild after the war with Iwagakure would be for nought if the Fox penetrated their line of defence. They fought with all the power they could muster, trying everything they knew to subdue the beast, but it was not enough. The monster was powerful, outrageously so, nothing seemed to work, they soon realized that if anyone could bring the monster down it would be the strongest in their village, the Fourth Hokage. The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, even had his own doubts about whether he could defeat the Fox, he had discussed with his wife Kushina about his plan of attack when intelligence reports came through that the Fox was on a rampaging path towards Konoha.

FLASHBACK

"Minato-kun, what will you do?" A worried Kushina asked her beloved

There was no immediate reply, a long silence followed as he thought his answer through carefully, Kushina waited patiently, a trait most uncharacteristic of her

"I'm thinking that I may have to seal it. There doesn't seem to be any other way," the response while definite was not without pain, the sealing process was such that it required his life.

"Seal it?" she inquired through narrowed eyes "Into what? This is the Kyuubi no Youko that we are talking about here, not the Nibi which is sealed into an iron ball or the Ichibi; sealed into a kettle. It will simply break free if the prison does not have a will of its own to hold it at bay. The Fox is simply too powerful."

While mostly curious, she was slightly suspicious, what did her husband know of sealing methods that would allow him to be able to seal the most powerful of Bijuu?

Minato drew a long breath before answering,

"Kushina-chan, I must seal it into a new born baby three days old at the most. It is the only way."

Kushina looked at the man she loved, though this look held no love, it was the one that she reserved for her most hated enemies. It was one that spoke of knowing unforgivable atrocities were committed by the soon to be dead.

"You cannot be serious you would be damning that child to a life of misery." She asked with a rather sharp edge to her voice, currently thinking about her unborn baby and what would happen if that fate was thrust upon it.

"I have no choice, one has to sacrifice his or her life to save the lives of many." There was no anger in his voice, only regret and disappointment for the current course of action.

She softened her gaze and then asked quietly "What if you and I?

Minato interrupted "No, we cant destroy it neither can we seal it into us. Our bodies cant handle a second chakra coil, we are only mortal. There is nothing we can do, sealing the Kyuubi into a new born baby is the only method."

"Very well, what if there aren't any babies born in the three day prior to the attack, then what?" seeing the apologetic look on Minato's face a sudden wave of realization swept over her.

"No, you will not use our child. I will not subject our own flesh and blood to that. I'm nowhere near giving birth yet any way." Kushina stood firm.

"We can induce the pregnancy, as it stands, we will be leaving behind an orphan, I would trust no one else with such a burden. Plus i cant ask someone else to do what i can do."

She was in shock "Orphan? What do you mean orphan?" not registering the latter part of Minato's explanation.

"The sealing? he hesitated lightly "The sealing will require my life. I must summon the Shinigami to consummate the sealing."

She realized what he was saying, the bond that they shared was beyond the legal status of husband and wife, it was such that when one pair of the couple died, the other would die as well so they would be united in the afterlife and the remaining person would not be left lonely.

It took many hours of arguing between Kushina and Minato before her resolve was finally broken and she agreed to have the sealing performed on their unborn baby.

END FLASHBACK

That brings us back to the present; the Konoha ninja were no longer trying to kill the beast, merely slow it down waiting for the Fourth Hokage to arrive.

Minato was in the hospital, holding his unconscious wife's hand as their child, a healthy young boy was removed though caesarean section. After the procedure, the genjutsu used to place her in an unconscious state was removed, allowing her to hold her child for the first and only time. She was enthralled by his little hand grasping around her finger as she nursed him. She was brought out of her reverie by a deep voice

"Kushina-hime, its time, I must go and perform the sealing before any more lives are lost." came Minato's voice, breaking into her thoughts

Then he bent over and said something in a voice so low that only she could hear.

"I'll see you on the other side, Minato-koi." was Kushina's simple reply.

In a streak yellow that had earned him the title of 'Konoha's Yellow Flash' the Yondaime Hokage had disappeared to the battle field, knowing that his death would be the price for the victory he was about to achieve.

When he got to the battle grounds there was a unanimous cry from the ninja that their leader had arrived, that their shining hope had come to save the day, cheering him to victory.

Minato heard none of this, when he arrived he was in shock, never had he imagined the scale of destruction he was viewing. He was a man that had killed an enemy army on his own and yet to him this was even worse. Every sense was informing him of the tragedy that had occurred. The feeling of blood-soaked ground squelching as he walked, the sound of dying comrades that were not granted the mercy of a swift and painless death, the smell of burning flesh, the taste of the thick smoke in the air from all of the fires, and the sight, the sight of hundreds upon hundreds of lifeless bodies, ripped in to shreds, burnt, flattened by the Foxes great paws all dyed red with blood.

A man that appeared much too old to be on the battlefield approached him,

"Minato-kun, are you sure that this is for the best? You could teach me the hand signs for the jutsu and allow me to take your place." Sarutobi, the previous Hokage had asked.

"No old man, this is my responsibility, I will not shirk from my duties as Hokage." the tone of his voice indicated a will of steel that would likely never be changed.

"Jiraiya-sensei, Kakashi-kun please watch over him and if possible teach him a trick or two" he said as he addressed two men that appeared with the previous Hokage, Jiraiya a man in his mid 40's with a flowing mane of white hair and Kakashi, a boy in his late teens with a cloth mask over the bottom half of his face and a mop of silver hair.

After they both gave their solemn promise to do all that they could for the boy Minato summoned Gamabunta, the Toad boss.

"Minato, if I'm not much mistaken that's the Kyuubi. Don't tell me you seriously intend on taking on the most powerful of the Bijuu?" Gamabunta's deep rumbling voice was heard all throughout the battle field.

"Afraid so Boss. I need you to keep him busy and me out of his reach while I make the final preparations for the sealing." was the reply and request by Minato.

"I will do what I can." was the only reply that Minato received for Gamabunta had already jumped into the fray to occupy the Fox, ninjato drawn. The fox turned to be more than a tough adversary for the Toad boss. Every time the fox was open and Gamabunta had a clear shot at it, it would simply swing its tails in defence, tails said to be able to cause tsunami's and crush mountains. While there was no large body of water to test this out on and the nearest mountain was Hokage monument ?miles away in Konoha, the wide spread destruction seen in the forest trees was more than enough reason to make Gamabunta try to dodge the blows instead of block.

Then Minato's voice rang through the sound of battle,

"It's ready! Kyuubi no Youko, I can't kill you but I can still seal you soul! Good bye you pitiful creature! Shiki Fuin!" he screamed.

Visible to only Minato and the Kyuubi a spectral entity appeared behind Minato, the Shinigami; it plunged its hand into the Kyuubi and tore out its soul placing it into the stomach of the newly born Naruto, where an intricate pattern appeared on his stomach.

As his last words, he spoke to Naruto,

"Naruto, please forgive your father for the burden I have place on you. I'm sorry for preventing you from meeting either of your parents, but this had to be done. Goodbye, my son. I love you."

The surrounding ninja couldn't see what was happening; all they knew was that the Kyuubi had disappeared. They started to rejoice, the crisis finally over. The rejoicing was brought to an abrupt end when their Hokage's voice screamed out in pain. Sarutobi, Jiraiya and Kakashi all knew what was happening and tried as best they could to hold back their tears, but it was in vain, they could not and they finally allowed their tears to freely fall down their face. Just as suddenly as the screaming had started the screaming ended, Minato's body falling off of Gamabunta's head was caught in Jiraiya's arms as the little bundle of cloth that was Naruto was caught in Kakashi's arms. Sarutobi had the responsibility of holding the crowd at bay telling them that this was neither the time nor the place to answer all of their questions. Gamabunta was able to shed a single tear before he dispelled to the summoning realm as his summoner to anchor him to this realm was no more.

It had already been decided that Sarutobi would once again take up the reins and become the Hokage after Minato had died from the sealing. He had clearly stated that questions could be asked later and any that were not of a classified nature would be answered, he was glad he had made that decision as he realized that over come with grief he could hardly answer the questions that would have been asked even if he wanted to.

In the hospital the nurse that had been assigned to look after Kushina was suddenly alerted as the hospital machines alerted her to the fact that there were no signs of life from the one they were attached to. Slightly panicked, she rushed to the room to find Kushina lying in bed deathly still. She hit the emergency button calling for other nurses. Other nurses and 2 doctors rushed into the room, intent on doing all they could to revive the Hokage's wife. After 20 minutes of failed attempts, she was declared dead by one of the doctors at 12:14 am on October the 11, just an hour after giving birth to Naruto. With the death following the caesarean section so closely it was assumed that she died giving birth to Naruto as the strain of the operation was too much, resulting in her death.

Sarutobi had arrived at his office in the Hokage tower and found on his desk 2 scrolls. One addressed to him and another addressed to Naruto. Curious, he unsealed the one to him, and almost dropped it when he realized from whom it came. It was a letter from Minato it read;

Sarutobi-san,

Or perhaps Hokage-sama is a more appropriate title now.

There are some issues that I need to know which i wont be able to tell you because as you read this I'm a dead man.

The first concerns the letter that is addressed to Naruto. It contains an explanation to Naruto as to why I made him a jinchuuriki and it also includes explanation of his true heritage. It also contains my last words to him and some advice on how to live his life.

It also contains a letter from Kushina, his mother, as by the time you read this she will also be dead, I will explain this in greater detail later. It has some information about the both of us so that he may have some understanding about who his parents were.

Also, sealed within the scroll are other scrolls from both the Namikaze Clan and Uzumaki clan. Both of us being the last of our kind. This is protected by a blood seal so only Naruto can open it; I can only pray that more devious minds will not cut Naruto in order to see the information contained within those scrolls.

Naruto's letter MUST strictly be given to him when he becomes a genin. He has trials to prepare for that only he can face. How do I know that he even wants to be one? It's not a choice really, if he wants to be considered clan head in either my clan or Kushina's clan he needs to be able to fight and fight very well.

Finally, I said that I would explain why Kushina is dead. Here goes: Kushina and I were bound by more than the simple laws of Konoha when we married. The laws of both our clan were invoked and created a bond between us. This bond only appears when there is genuine love from both persons involved. It not only connects us spiritually, it ties us together in an unbreakable thread. Simply put when one feels pain, so does the other and when one feels joy the same occurs. This holds true in death as well and when one half dies so does the other, so that they may be united where ever they go and that they will not feel loneliness in the other's absence after death.

My last words to you are first of all a request; please try to have Naruto seen as a hero by the village, I have every confidence that this can happen, though Kushina does not share my sentiment.

Look after my village Old Man. Oh and good luck with the paper work.

Minato Namikaze

Yondaime Hokage

Sarutobi was floored by the information, shocked to the core that Naruto was now an orphan.

Sarutobi let out a long sigh, it was only his first hour back and already he had to deal with crap that he really would have rather not have to. It was necessary to tell the council that the Hokage was dead and that the Kyuubi had been sealed and not killed. He thought sadly

'This is going to cause uproar amongst the villagers; I just know it. Sadly I think that I have to agree with Kushina, they are not going to be as generous as he thinks they will be.'

In the council chambers, all of the Clan heads were present as well as the Council elders Danzo, Homura and Koharu. There was unrest amongst the ranks, all owing to the simple rumour that the Yondaime Hokage was dead.

Koharu was first to call Sarutobi on this "Sarutobi, what's this nonsense that everyone is spouting? The Yondaime Hokage being dead?"

The aged Hokage had to compose himself before answering "First of all, you must address me as Sarutobi-sama or Hokage-sama now, because it is not nonsense, the fourth Hokage is dead."

Koharu gaped like a stunned mullet before finally getting her voice back and softly asking "How?"

"He was fighting the Kyuubi no Youko, and immortal being of immense power. Surely you didn't expect a mere mortal, no matter how strong to prevail with his life intact no less?"

She was summarily silenced, only for another voice to join the conversation

"Hokage-sama," it was Shibi Aburame, ever careful to be respectful of one above his post, "You said that it was not possible for him to defeat an immortal being regardless of whether he lived or died, yet he achieved the feat, would you mind divulging how?"

It was time to bite the bullet and Sarutobi knew it.

"He didn't defeat it, not in the true sense of the word anyway. The beast was sealed into a new born baby."

There was an upsurge of outrage from many of the present council members asking for the name and whereabouts of this child, many calling for its execution. This was all silenced by the Hokage

"QUIET! THERE WILL BE NO SUCH TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE WHILE I AM HOKAGE." He roared above the racket.

"The demon is simply a wolf in lambs clothing, it could break out and destroy us, or even use that body of the child as a conduit for its actions," the voice belonged to Fugaku Uchiha, there was also a murmur of a agreement from the rest of the crowd. There was a was a sudden outburst from one of the other clan heads,

"That is a very flawed line of thinking Uchiha-san," it was Shikaku Nara, with the most uncharacteristic outburst.

"Explain," was the very sharp retort from Fugaku

"Better yet, I'll demonstrate," and proceeded to seal a kunai into a scroll. He gave the seal kunai to Fugaku and then stated

"Now kill me using the kunai." There was a gasp from the audience as Fugaku had unsealed the kunai and was charging towards the Nara clan head, only for him to stop in his tracks a few meters from Shikaku due to being caught by his kagemane jutsu.

"What's the matter, had second thought about dying here?" Fugaku taunted

"I said 'kill me with the kunai' not 'unseal the kunai and kill me'" he replied evenly, sounding almost bored

"There is no difference," Fugaku snarled

"Of course there is, if we liken the situation to Naruto, he is the scroll and the Kyuubi is the kunai. The container cannot kill me but the imprisoned certainly could." explained Shikaku

"Ha, you have just proven my point, the sealed can kill us and just as this kunai was unsealed so to can the Kyuubi be unsealed," Fugaku shouted in triumph

"Think about what you just said, who unsealed the kunai? You did." Shikaku's voice cut through Fugaku's apparently premature celebration.

"Get to your point," Fugaku stated icily, leveling a glare at the Nara clan head

"Quite simply, the only reason the sealed became a threat was because someone with knowledge unsealed it. Meaning that if no one tampers with the seal containing the Kyuubi then we are safe. All we have to do is ensure that no one tries to do anything so foolish."

Fugaku fumed, he knew he was beaten, but more importantly the Nara head had just made him lose face in front of the council, more importantly the Hyuuga, the Uchiha's only rival clan within the village.

The Hokage on the other hand, well he was elated. Simply overjoyed that other people could see past the demon sealed into the boy and realised that he was only a human, perhaps there was hope after all.

Danzo had observed the conversation for long enough, now it was time for him to put forth his own ideas and potentially further his own agenda.

"Hokage-sama, if the boy has such a powerful resource at his disposal, then would it not be wise to train him to make the most of it?" he inquired

"Before you even try to recruit Naruto to that ROOT program of yours, there will be no such thing happening today. As it stands, I have half a mind to disband the group now; however, we were called here for different purpose, so we will stick to the task at hand." Sarutobi stated; destroying any hopes Danzo may have had of acquiring a new and powerful weapon to brainwash into being a loyal servant.

"If I may be so bold, Hokage-sama, can I inquire who the parents of the boy are?" the question was voiced by Hiashi Hyuuga, head of the Hyuuga clan.

"The boy is an orphan, both parents killed through the course of the Kyuubi's attack." Sarutobi answered; while it wasn't what the council wanted to hear, it was not a lie, he could only hope that they assumed that it was a civilian child are at best the child of 2 jounin, not the son of the most powerful ninja to have lived and his wife, a former Whirlpool legend.

Finally it was Homura's turn to speak up,

"Hokage-sama, we must still alert the village as to what is living amongst them,"

"And what is living amongst them Homura-san?" asked Sarutobi rather testily

"A demon," was the shout from one of the council members

Sarutobi levelled a glare that promised death, the council member audibly gulped and returned to his station.

"We have already determined that he is a no more a demon than that scroll is the sealed kunai." His words were icy as his stare still seemed to linger on the council member.

"None the less, Hokage-sama, you have called us here to inform us that the Kyuubi was sealed and not killed, if you weren't here to tell us who it was sealed into, then why even bother to convene us?" Homura replied

The Hokage could not deny the truth in his words, he had essentially told the council nothing and realised that he'd indeed have to proffer the name,

"Naruto? he hesitated slightly, not wanting to open another can of worms that could occur if he used the name 'Namikaze' "Naruto Uzumaki" he said, opting to give Naruto his mother's maiden name.

"Not that it should matter, it was the Yondaime's dying wish that he be view as a hero. However, Seeing the reaction that Fugaku just had is more than to give me grounds to believe that this won't happen." Sarutobi continued, while still silently hoping that more people would share Shikaku's point of view.

"Now that everything is out in the open and that you have all been made aware of the situation with the Kyuubi, the death of the Yondaime and my reinstatement as the Hokage there is nothing further that needs to be said at this meeting, let us all go back to what is left of our families and try to get a night of rest before we mourn for our lost ones." It was at times like this that Sarutobi truly felt his age and he gave his advice to the members of the council in a solemn and somewhat subdued tone.

Sarutobi was in the middle of going home when a sudden thought had occurred to him. Minato and Kushina had gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal her pregnancy, yet they had to let some one in on the secret, namely the people who tended to them through their stay in the hospital. He quickly changed route ad arrived at Konoha General Hospital a short while later. He went to the head of the hospital and requested and all staff that we involved in the care of Kushina and her unborn baby, from the doctor and surgeon that preformed the operation to the cleaners responsible for cleaning the private room.

A short while later everyone who was originally grumbling about being called in at the current hour quickly silenced themselves as they realised that they were in the presence of a previous Hokage. When everyone was settled Sarutobi began talking.

"Thank you all for gathering here at this ungodly hour, the effort is appreciated. It has come to my attention that all of you have in some way had contact with Kushina and Minato, through the period of Kushina's pregnancy. I must ask you to never, ever reveal this information to anyone. Minato is viewed as a hero in our village for his efforts through the Iwa-Konoha war. As a result he is also regarded as a demon and a dealer of death to Iwa and their allies Kumo. If either of these two countries were to discover Minato's heir, they would send a squad to perform an assassination immediately," many were sobered by this information.

"It is for this reason that I must classify this information as an S rank secret of our village. The penalty for divulging such information is death not only to the party responsible for telling the secret, but also to the recipient of the information, so think very carefully before betraying my trust."

There was a nod of assent from the group of people he was addressing and he took it that everyone understood the gravity of the situation. With nothing left to say he dismissed them and warily he thought that he would also have to speak to Kakashi and Jiraiya about this as well.

He was sorely tempted to leave the task till morning, though he knew that his laziness would come back to bite him so he grudgingly made the trip to Kakashi's house first, he knew where Jiraiya could be found.

When he got to Kakashi's front door and it was answered by the youth. All he said was

"Come with me, I have something to discuss with you and Jiraiya,"

Well who was Kakashi to refuse such an 'invitation', when the Kage spoke you damn well listened. A short while later found them outside the Namikaze clan grounds, while not quite as big as either the Hyuuga or Uchiha clan compounds it was still quite a large area. Jiraiya was found inside the main house, looking weary after a long night and now tending to Naruto. Once he had the attention of both men he began.

"I know you two know that this is Minato's son. In fact, it's for that very reason that I have called you here. I want you to keep this a secret, you can easily understand the trouble it would cause if either Kumo or Iwa found out he is Minato's heir. The hospital staff are already aware of this and I have classed it as an S rank secret. I'm sure I don't have to explain the implications," both men shook their heads affirming that they knew that if they told the secret they would pay with their lives.

Now that he had taken care of all business that needed immediate attention, he was left to simply shunshin to his clan home and sleep, preparing for tomorrow.

Three days later saw a service held for those who had bravely fought and lost their lives in the battle against the Kyuubi. It was also the place that Sarutobi announced his reinstatement as the Hokage. He gave a speech, trying to lift them morale of the people he was to lead once more,

"People of Konoha, three days ago we were dealt a very severe blow. We lost friends, comrades and family members. We also lost a great leader; the Yondaime was a great man and will be forever missed. Giving his life for the prospect of saving this village and defeating the Kyuubi is a feat that only Minato Namikaze would be capable of. Through his sacrifice, we realize just how strong the Will of Fire was within him. We must look to his sacrifice and display of his will as inspiration to rebuild and create a better tomorrow."

The people clapped politely in appreciation for Sarutobi's effort is raising their morale. Sarutobi noticed the tension amongst the members of the crowd and wondered what had them so tense, until one of them spoke up and asked,

"Hokage-sama, are the rumours true? Are the rumours that the Kyuubi was sealed and not killed true?" one person asked amongst the thousand or so that were gathered.

Sarutobi cursed under his breath. What idiotic council member had decided to let that information leak out?

"Hokage-sama, people are saying that the Kyuubi was sealed into a boy, what if it breaks free, what if it uses Naruto to kill all of us."

Now the Hokage was livid, who the hell had the foresight of telling a group of distraught villagers that the one for their pain was sealed inside something as fragile as a human baby? He had decided that they had better hear the truth straight from the source, rather than getting some garbled version that was most likely tailored to suit the purposes of the one spreading the rumour,

"Yes, it's true; the Demon is sealed within baby. The Kyuubi was too powerful, even for Minato. So he did the only thing he knew that had the best possibility of working, he sealed it."

"And what has been done about it?" asked another face in the crowd.

Slightly confused, but hoping that this wasn't leading where he thought it was he asked "And what should be done?"

"It needs to be killed," was the swift reply from yet another crowd member, almost instantly followed by further shouts demanding similar actions or nods of approval.

"The Kyuubi is seal in the child, not reincarnated as it," The Hokage shouted out above the noise, frustrated by the close-mindedness of the people he had chosen to lead once again.

"The thing could escape, or use him directly to hurt us," we the counter-argument

"Do you have such little faith in the Yondaime as to suggest that his method would fail us when he gave his very life to ensure our safety? Not to mention that he called upon the power of the Shinigami in order to seal the Kyuubi away?"

"It's not that we have a lack of faith in either the Shinigami or the Yondaime or that we underestimate them, it's just that this is the Kyuubi no Youko. The Yondaime was only human, subject to mistakes and we don't know which is stronger, a seal bound by the Shinigami, or a demon's will to live and escape, so to prevent any harm, he should be killed."

Sarutobi looked into the crowd and saw many faces reflecting support for the words spoken before he laid down the law, quite literally.

"I know this child will not get a chance with the lot of you and I cannot simply make a law stating that you must like him. So this is a new law that I am laying down now and putting into effect immediately in order to give Naruto some chance of a normal life in his later years. No person is to mention the fact that Naruto has the Kyuubi to anyone. This means that it cannot be mentioned in public, nor can it be discussed in the privacy of one's own home. Yes that includes warning your children of it as they need not know. This is to be considered an S rank secret. For the civilians in the gathering, this means that any utterance of this issue in any fashion will result in you execution, there were gasps of shock from the crowd at how harsh the penalty was

"Secondly, any attempts to take justice into your own hands and kill Naruto, will be met with the same punishment; death. This is final."

Realizing that there was nothing further to be said and that Sarutobi's mind could not be swayed on the matter, the congregation broke up, returning to trying to rebuild their lives.

As they left to go about their business Sarutobi looked to the back of the gathering seeing Naruto in the arms of Jiraiya thinking

'The next few years are gonna be long as hell. Minato-kun I'm sorry they disregarded your last wish.'

Hey, hope you liked this chapter. Its just basically to set the tone of this story as its tittle suggests. Expect the next chapter soon.

Remember, don't feel compelled to do review.

-kamizon


	2. We Will Grow Up Strong

**A/N: **New chapter here. I didn't actually want to post it so soon but well... In any case, read, like and review(if you want to).

**Chapter 2: **Will Grow Up Strong

**Four years later**

He was running. He didn't know, why. No, he knew why he was running, if they caught him then he then they would make him suffer; do painful things to him. What he didn't know was why they were chasing. He didn't dare stop to ponder; he had learnt that talking did nothing, only evasion till the Old Man came.

Why was today any different from any other day? Usually they just settle for ignoring him, shooing him out of their shops and shielding other children from him. The Old Man had said it was his birthday today. Weren't people supposed to be nice to you on your birthday? You know, get you all the goodies in the stores and wish you a successful life?

These were the thoughts running through Naruto's head as he ran from a group of drunk and enraged villagers. His feet pounded the pavement as he desperately struggled to get away from his pursuers. He was fortunate for the many nooks, crannies broken fences that were around in this district. They gave him ample room to hide while the adults chasing him passed, or else a quick passage to another alley, while they were either forced to climb over or find a different route if they still wanted to harm him.

While he was running, he wasn't paying too much attention to his surroundings. He turned a corner, blindly hoping that the Old Man would come and rescue him. After turning the corner his face blanched; it was a dead end, and not one of those broken down fences so common in this area, but a solid brick wall, impossible to get around. He turned around in the hopes that he would still have enough time to back out and try to continue his escape; he had no such luck as the pursuers were already upon him each with an evil leer on their face.

"Look at what we have here," one of their number said to his accomplices, a slight slur of alcohol affecting his speech "the demon has gone and trapped itself in an alley." The man finished with a slightly crazed look about his face

Another spoke up, this time a woman, "It's even decided to take us to some weapons to help us finish the Yondaime's good work." She grinned maniacally casting a look about the alley and spotting some broken glass bottles as well as some broken plumbing pipes that looked ready to be ripped out of their moorings.

Anything that could be used as a weapon was taken up and swung, just to get the balance right. Then it started, blood curdling screams could be heard from blocks away, as Naruto desperately tried to protect himself by curling up into a ball and covering his head. His screams for mercy were ignored by the group as they kicked, punched, cut and actually make an artwork fit for a serial killer of him.

"This is for all the friends and family we lost, feel the pain we are giving you and know that it will never compare to the pain you caused us. We will never get our loved ones back, but damn, this feels good!" this time it was a boy in his late teens snarled at Naruto while viciously slashing with a broken bottle.

This torture continued for close to half an hour. The crowd by this stage was growing frustrated, Naruto was just simply not dying; more proof that he was a demon After all what normal human child could take such a beating and still move, much less scream in agony. Had they been more composed they would have noticed that the cuts and bruises they were dealing him were healing almost as fast as they were delivered, only to be replaced by fresh ones. Just adding to the pain of the boy.

"Hold him still." One of them grunted. Three others did as they were asked.

"Excuse me demon-san, can you survive without air." He promptly slashed a shard of glass across Naruto's windpipe, all without even wiping away the smirk on his face. At that point the air around them felt like it had gone completely frigid. It was a pressure so unbearable, it was hard to breathe. They turned and looked for the source. A man with a mop of silver hair wearing the standard Konoha Jounin attire was standing before them. He had a black face mask over the lower half of his face and his forehead protector covering his left eye.

The new figure spoke lividly "What the hell do you think your are doing?"

One of the crowd stammered a weak response "We are finishing what the Yondaime started and what you ninja are too weak to finish. We are killing the demon."

The figure's eyes narrowed but spoke with an even tone "You have been made aware that the demon is sealed in Naruto and that they are entirely not the same. You would also be aware of the Hokage's law on issues regarding Naruto. As it stands I need to get him medical attention immediately, therefore I can't take you to Ibiki for questioning now."

There was a collective sigh of relief; everyone, even civilians, knew of Ibiki Morino of the Torture Division and his extreme sadism. Well him and his protege who liked to play with sharp objects, Anko Mitarashi.

The figure continued "Better yet, your punishment will be administered immediately. Every single person here will be executed for this crime."

He slowly drew a kunai from the holster on his leg and before the civilians even realised he had moved, he was amongst their number killing them by slitting their jugulars with cold efficiency. Once he was done he rushed over to Naruto to inspect the damage.

"Kami-sama above, what have they done to you?" he said to himself.

Naruto opened a heavily bruise left eye and all that he could see was a bunch of silver, lots of blue and a little white, before he passed out. The figure was preparing to shunshin him to the hospital when he stopped to take notice of the cuts that were healing on his body.

'The Kyuubi is healing him' he idly thought before commencing the transportation technique to the hospital.

-0-

He didn't bother to even try the general admittance; he shunshined directly into a room that was specifically set up for Naruto. He had been through this before and knew what to do. He hit the emergency button that called for a special team of doctors and nurses. It was also linked directly to the Hokage's office so the Hokage would be alerted any time the room was in use as the room was reserved for Naruto alone. Not 20 seconds later a group of men and women walked in and wasted no time in getting to work. The Hokage shunshined in shortly after,

"Kakashi, report." he stated in a voice that commanded authority to wards the figure

"Naruto was attacked by a group of villagers, Hokage-sama" was the swift reply

"And what of the villagers?" Sarutobi further inquired

"All dead, Sir. There wasn't time to bring Naruto here and take them in for questioning. Rather than let them get off scot free, I took the best course of action and killed them on the spot. Their remains are still in the alley."

"Good. I'll put Itachi and his squad will be on clean up duty then."

They watched in silence as the medics went about doing their job of healing Naruto. Kakashi finally broke the silence

"Hokage-sama, I've been meaning to ask; where did you find a group of medics so willing to treat Naruto-kun?"

"These are the medics that cared for Kushina-chan through her stay in the hospital while she was carrying Naruto-kun. They helped deliver him and as such understand that he is indeed human."

"I see." Was the only reply the Hokage received.

Once the medic-nin had done all that they could, a doctor whose name plate said 'Megumi Takani' (from Rurouni Kenshin. no I don't own it) approached the two men but addressed the Hokage more specifically

"He needs rest. He has been through a lot tonight and even though the physical damage is mostly repaired, he still needs to recover from the emotional and mental damage. We will continue to monitor his progress and let you know of any changes to his condition. As a final observation the Kyuubi's chakra healed most of the damage before we could. By the time Hatake-san had brought him in here most of the wounds were healed or well on their way to being closed over."

Sarutobi answered slowly "Very well. I will wait here till he has regained consciousness. Kakashi, get Itachi Uchiha to go clean up the mess before some innocent child stumbles across it?"

"At once, Hokage-sama." Even if the Hokage had wanted to, he wouldn't have got another word in as Kakashi shunshined away almost immediately.

'Strange,' he thought 'he is late for nearly everything and yet when he feels like it he can perform tasks with the swiftness of the wind.'

White. That was all he saw when he opened his eyes. It couldn't be his room in the orphanage. That room was so dirty that the walls were caked in black filth. He looked around to see Old Man talking to a young woman. He remembered her face; she was one of the few that were nice to him. There was the Old Man, some people at the hospital, Old man Ichiraku and his daughter Ayame-chan and hopefully the strange figure that had saved him last night would be able to join them.

The Hokage watched patiently as Naruto roused himself from his sleep. Idly looking at him over the hours, he realised quite a number of things. The most obvious was that Naruto truly looked like his father. How no one in the village had picked up on it yet was beyond his understanding. While thinking of Minato, he also remembered about the letter he was left.

'Naruto's letter MUST be given to him when he becomes a genin. He has trials to prepare for that only he can face. How do I know that he even wants to be one? It's not a choice really, if he wants to be considered clan head in either my clan or Kushina's clan he needs to be able to fight and fight very well.'

Sarutobi pondered the point for awhile before coming to realise that even without the requirement to need to fight well to lead the clan, he was going to need some form of training, that is if he wanted to live to see his 5th birthday. Nothing too serious. Perhaps just introduce him to the basic bunshin and taijutsu style used in Konoha's Ninja Academy as well as the kawarimi and henge. These things could help him survive and escape the rampant crowds long enough for either him or his ANBU to arrive.

"Naruto, are you feeling better?" he was originally going to as 'are you alright?' but it seemed like a stupid question to answer to after nearly being beaten to death.

"I am. Although I really wish I knew why they pick on me so much, Oji-san. And why I am the only one." Naruto answered in a low solemn voice

Sarutobi looked back at him sadly and said "I wish I knew too, Naruto-kun. They have no reason to do when they do to you." He had answered the question without being too specific, something that he had to do more and more these days. He knew the day was fast approaching when he could not be so vague. In any case, at the moment it seemed to work as Naruto was satisfied that he was not at fault.

"Naruto, I've been thinking, how would you like to start training as a ninja." Sarutobi asked cautiously, when he saw Naruto's eyes light up he realised he had just delivered the boy from his personal hell.

"Are you serious Oji-san? Like training me to move super fast? Or are you training me to hide in the shadows? Or like teaching me ultra awesome, super cool jutsu?"

Sarutobi had to hold his hand to stem the flow of questions that were coming thick and fast. Now Naruto had asked the questions he realised that he would have to decide what to have taught to Naruto by his sensei. Higher raking jutsu was out of the question, not until he got far more control of his chakra, otherwise using high level jutsu could have catastrophic effects, particularly considering how high his chakra reserves could be with his father being from a clan that boasted of high chakra levels and the Fox adding to them.

"We will discuss that with your sensei when the time comes. For now you need to rest. You must be hungry. How about the medics bring you something?"

"NO! I WANT ICHIRAKU'S RAMEN." He shouted at the top of his lungs causing Old Man Teuchi to smile proudly and Megumi to let out a little chuckle.

The Sandaime had to twiddle his finger in his ear. Apparently he looked like his father but had his mother's behaviour to deal with; as a certain Nara would put it 'this could be troublesome'.

"Rest for now. When you wake up, your sensei will be waiting here for you with the ramen you seem to love so much."

Naruto threw himself at the Old Hokage, wrapping his arms around his neck, practically screaming "Thank you, Oji-san. You're the best."

He the sent an appreciative smile towards the other occupants of the room before the all turned to leave

After Sarutobi had regained some semblance of hearing after and made sure that Naruto was asleep, he shunshined out to his office.

-0-

Once the Sandaime was in his office he summoned one of his ANBU, Ox appeared before him,

"Go find Kakashi Hatake. Tell him to be here when he is done cleaning up. I wish to speak with him."

"At you command, Hokage-sama." Ox replied before he promptly left to complete his assigned task.

Sarutobi was left to his own thoughts as he waited for Kakashi to finish his duties before arriving. He sat there and looked at a picture of his late successor on the wall and thought to himself

'Minato, what would you think of your village if you could see what they did and what they still do to your son.'

After nearly an hour lost in thought, Kakashi eventually shunshined into the office.

"That took a surprisingly long time considering both you and Itachi were assigned. Were there really that many bodies?" Sarutobi asked genuinely interested.

"No, there weren't that many bodies, I finished shortly after getting the message but there was a chain of black cats walking across the street. I had to go round the village if I didn't want to cross their path. I heard those kinds of cat ae bad luck"

A vein pulsed in Sarutobi's forehead. He truly didn't know what was more irritating; Kakashi's tardiness, or his lies which were obvious to even the youngest of children.

"In any case, I've called you here to ask you to be a sensei." Sarutobi decided to let his frustration go for the time being.

"I don't know why you bother asking me every time. No team has ever met my expectations. It's not likely that anything is about to change now."

"It isn't a team I want you to train, it's an individual," Sarutobi said with a grin "I want you to train Naruto-kun."

"Naruto? In what?"

"Ballet." Sarutobi answered in a completely serious voice. Kakashi on the other hand nearly had a heart attack which Sarutobi could clearly see in his eyes. "The ninja arts of course! What else?" Sarutobi's voice now had a hint of humour but mainly irritation to it.

"Right of course. Sorry." Kakashi at least had the decency to feel a little ashamed of his stupid question.

"I want you teaching him the basic academy jutsu and taijutsu. Also we need to have him learn about stealth. Not only will it prove useful both now, while trying to hide from villagers till we get there it will be vital throughout his ninja career. Hopefully it will also help him to quieten down a little." Sarutobi added on as afterthought thinking about his still ringing ears.

"I accept. I'll go to the hospital and speak to him. He hasn't really met me yet." Kakashi announced to the Hokage.

"Very good, but you will need to stop by Ichiraku's Ramen. I promised him his sensei would bring him some for when he woke up." Sarutobi added with a sheepish look about his face.

Kakashi, cursing the need to go across the village and then trek back with ramen in his hands to the hospital, shunshined out of the office to appear almost an instant later outside Ichiraku's Ramen Stand.

-0-

He got there, ordered 2 packs of miso ramen to go before holding them both in one hand in order to perform the half ram with the other necessary to shunshin to Naruto's room. Before he remebered he couldnt do that. It was a security measure placed to prevent shinobi from attempting to assassinate Naruto whilst he was there. With a final curse he, started his long walk.

-0-

Kakashi, looking into the oom realised that Naruto was still asleep. He walked in, placed the ramen on the bedside table and turned to close the door to the room. In the time that he turned, walked back to the door, closed and turned again, he heard furious slurping, lips smacking followed by a large belch. By the time he gazed back at the table, he noticed that both packs of miso ramen were missing and there was a very content looking Naruto propped up against the wall, still sitting in bed.

"Weren't you asleep a second ago?" Kakashi asked incredulously.

"Yep," was the bright reply "the smell of ramen is quite powerful. I'm sure it cold wake the dead if you ask me." he clarified.

Still in shock Kakashi went on, trying to maintain some level of composure "Right, well, Hokage-sama told you that you were going to get an instructor for the ninja arts, well that's me."

"My name is Kakashi Hatake. You can call me Kakashi-sensei seeing as I will be teaching you".

"Cool so what are you gonna teach me. Some really powerful fighting style? Ultra speed? How to make dragons out of air?" Kakashi couldn't get a word in. He finally started when Naruto had run out of breath.

"I will teach you how to hide really well, were gonna make you a lot faster. Were only gonna learn a few things, they are things you would learn from the academy anyway."

"But I really wanted to learn lots of cool things like how to beat a person with the flick of a finger."

Kakashi thought at the back of his mind, 'Well if you can get Lady Tsunade to teach you then you might be able to'. In the middle of his wandering mind he thought of a brilliant way to get Naruto to co-operate.

"Naruto, how does this sound. If you can learn everything that the Hokage wants me to teach you then I will teach you an awesome move. Sound fair?"

"What's the name of the move? Every awesome move has an awesome name."

Kakashi pondered the point for a second before deciding on the name,

"It's called the Super Awesome, Ultra Flashy Jutsu."

Kakashi looked at Naruto who now appeared to have stars in his eyes at the prospect of learning something so 'awesome'.

"Alright then, you got yourself a deal Kakashi-sensei." Kakashi smiled, the boy took it hook, line and sinker.

"You're due to be released tomorrow morning so I will be picking you up from here. " With nothing further left to say to each other, Kakashi left Naruto so he could rest up for tomorrow, leaving him free to pursue other activities. There was a very good book that the bookstore had just released that he wanted to buy, giving perverted giggle as he thought of his purchase to be.

-0-

Morning couldn't come fast enough for Naruto. By the time Kakashi had arrived, he was literally bouncing off of the walls, telling anyone who would listen that he was going to learn to be a ninja as well as the super awesome, ultra flashy jutsu.

It probably would have helped the hospital staff had Kakashi actually shown up when Naruto was discharged, rather than turning up two hours afterwards.

"Alright Naruto-kun, time to commence your training. Do you know where the stream is?" after receiving a nod of confirmation he continued

"I want you to race me there". Of course it was not a true race. Kakashi being a Jounin of the village could have beaten him there without even raising more than a hand. It was much easier to get Naruto to work if he was having fun while doing it. By the next time he looked down Naruto was already down the hall, cackling like a madman about how he was going to beat his sensei in a race. Kakashi then decided he wasn't going to use chakra for the race.

Kakashi kept tabs on him as he raced through the village, towards the stream. It would not do well to have him attacked again. As he kept watch he took note of the glares that nearly every villager sent at Naruto. The ones that didn't glare completely disregarded him, as though he wasn't there.

'Ignoring him, almost as bad as actively harassing him' Kakashi thought.

When they both arrived at the stream Naruto was the first to speak between pants.

"So.. what are we... going to do... here ...Kakashi-sensei?"

"We are first going to get to know each other beyond names. I'll start. You know my name, it's Kakashi, likes? reading, my dislikes? well I can't really think of anything of the top of my head, and my dream for the future? I'll tell you when you're older." Kakashi said the last part without the usual traces of a lazy tone usually present in his voice when discussing such matters; indicating that he might actually be serious about what he was talking about, though Naruto was too young for him to understand.

"Now your turn."

"Well you now that my name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes are Ramen and people that are nice to me, my dislikes are the time that it takes for ramen to be cooked and people that are mean to me, dream for the future?..."

Kakashi interrupted, "You don't have to have one yet, but I would appreciate that if you do get a dream. Our dreams are like fuel. When you do get one tell me, then I'll know you are ready to hear my dream for the future." Naruto simply nodded.

"I am going to teach you how to swim." Kakashi suddenly announced

"I thought you were gonna teach me something cool, like how to walk on water." Naruto whined, not knowing that it actually was possible to walk on water.

"Nope, swimming, while strictly speaking, isn't a shinobi skill, is still, vital for survival. What would happen if the Hokage gave you a mission someday that involved you getting wet in something deeper than a bath?"

"I wouldn't be able to do it" Naruto realised that this was important.

Kakashi gave one of his eye smiles and said,

"Naruto, we are going to do some things that may not seem like they will help right away, but trust me when I say that they will be useful later on. Now strip to your boxers and I'll do the same so we are ready to get in the water." Kakashi said trying not to sound like one dead bleached singer.

And so the lesson began. It wasn't all easy going. At first Naruto wasn't overly confident of being in the unfamiliar presence and he wasn't too particularly trusting of Kakashi not to let him go and simply allow him to drown. In Kakashi's opinion this was hardly surprising considering the track record he had with misplaced trust in the villagers.

By the end of the hour Kakashi had Naruto laying flat on the water, rather than in an upright sit position. He was also surprised to see that his legs were performing the correct kicking motion rather than seeing the running motion that so many children display when learning to swim.

"Naruto, that's enough for swimming today. I think we should do something else while we dry off."

Naruto obediently followed Kakashi along the water's edge till they were in a small clearing. He didn't seem to have the usual spring in his step, probably just tiredness from the swimming.

"What now Sensei," asked Naruto, eager to learn more. He was soon learning that Kakashi was becoming someone he could trust, when Kakashi had said that he wouldn't let go in the water, he didn't. When Kakashi said he was going to let go and 'catch' him again in a short while, he did. It seemed that when he gave his word he kept it.

"We are going to meditate. This is for two reasons. The first I that we need to unlock your chakra in order for you do the jutsu you so want to learn. The second reason is that we can dry off before we put our clothes back on."

To himself Kakashi thought of the third reason,

'Hopefully it will calm him down and get him to stop bouncing around all of the time'

"How do I meditate, Sensei?" Naruto asked

"You simply need to sit still and try to relax. While you are doing this, for today, I want you to focus on finding a warmth within you. This is your chakra. When you think you have found it, don't shout out. Simply remain focused and tell me; I will give you more instructions from there. Naruto then sat in the lotus position whilst Kakashi took out a bright orange book.

Almost an hour had passed from when Kakashi had started Naruto on mediation. If he had guessed, Kakashi would have said that Naruto was asleep; he didn't think that it was possible for the blonde to be this quiet and awake at the same time. That was until Naruto in a small voice said

"Sensei, I think I found it, it feels like a thought only really hard to think about it." Kakashi smiled at these words. When you first accessed your chakra it felt like a thought, or better yet a sentence on the tip of your tongue that you couldn't quite say.

"Good, now focus on trying to drag it forwards, try and 'think' more about that thought," Kakashi coached, trying to use Naruto's own words.

It was another full minute before anything happened, then Kakashi felt it, Naruto's chakra came spilling out of him. So young and he already had a capacity of what had to be at least mid to high genin level, he was floored.

"Good, Naruto, very good indeed. I want you to remember that feeling. Never forget it. It is one of the most important things you will use through your life as a ninja."

"Now that you know what your chakra feels like I want you to try using it. I'm going to tech you some jutsu, but first we need to tech you the 12 basic hand signs."

Kakashi ran through the 12 hand signs, giving Naruto time to copy and himself time to correct any mistakes in his signing. After Kakashi was confident that Naruto had the different had signs learning part quite well, he showed him the hands signs for the henge. On Naruto's first try, the replica Kakashi had his weight distributed incorrectly, giving the impression of severely obese person instead of the fit person that Kakashi was. It took a further 23 more tries before Naruto got the dimensions correct. The only thing left to work on at any great length was Naruto's eye for detail as there were things missing from the transformation, such as a kunai holster or the buckling on his sandals.

Next was the kawarimi. This jutsu had its own unique set of hand signs and again, Kakashi gave Naruto time to memorize them before getting him to perform it himself.

"Kawarimi no jutsu," Naruto announced to the world. Kakashi's eye widened for a split second; that was the only amount of time that he had to react. Something must have gone wrong in the hand signalling, for there was a huge boulder dropping through the air to their position. He quickly tackled Naruto out of the way and asked for him to repeat the process, this time focusing less on the amount chakra used but more on the hand signs. Kakashi opted to stay much closer this time in case a similar event occurred; he knew he could get them out of there if the situation called for it. When Naruto reattempted the technique, Kakashi was puzzled,

"What's wrong, aren't you going to try again?" he asked

"I already have" was the reply. Apparently Naruto had used too little chakra this time and had not moved any mass at all.

" Alright then, could you try to concentrate somewhere in the middle, while, trying to use chakra that is in the middle as well.

A look of concentration crossed Naruto's features as he thought about what he was required to do. Naruto did the seals again. After announcing the jutsu, and a small flux in the chakra, Naruto had indeed completed the jutsu successfully, albeit with a lot of wasted chakra, but successful none the less. With such large and dense reserves at such a young age it was to be expected that his control over his chakra would be poor. With this in mind he thought about the final thing that he had to teach Naruto, the bunshin. Kakashi had serious doubts as to whether he would ever be able to get Naruto to learn this technique. Naruto's chakra reserves could be likened to a dam and the dam gates with a pressure pump on top. It was like trying to get only a cup's worth of water through the dam gates while trying to not let any excess water to escape the gates. In other words impossible. Well, he'd be damned if he didn't try any way.

"Naruto, there is one thing that I would like to teach you today. It's called the bunshin. It will create an illusion so it looks like there is more than one of you. However, if you can't get it after a few tries, don't worry, it's not your fault. The hand signs are as follows."

For the third time that day Kakashi demonstrated a set of hand seals, this time for the bunshin. Naruto attempted the bunshin and as expected the thing formed for a second before turning pale and collapsing.

"As I thought, you have far too much dense chakra for you to use that technique effectively"

"Naruto tried to use the jutsu again, only to achieve the exact same results. Now starting to panic that his Sensei would not teach him anymore, due to him being unable to make a bunshin, he started trying harder. Recognising the signs from his body language, Kakashi walked over and out a hand on his shoulder. Naruto flinched at the action, expecting some form of physical punishment for his failure. When none came he looked up and saw Kakashi looking down at him with genuine concern in his eyes, the flinch had not gone unnoticed.

"Remember, I said not to worry about it if you couldn't do it, it's not your fault."

Hardly daring to believe his luck at someone else being nice to him, particularly after a failure, his eyes started to get moist with tears, though tears of joy at finding another person to add to the very short list of people who he could trust.

"Come on, let's get you back to the Hokage. We've done enough work for today. Let's head back."

-0-

In the Hokage's office Naruto was left to flit about and look at the paintings on the wall in the office while Kakashi talked to the aging Hokage.

"Well how was it?" the Hokage asked, fully expecting to hear stories of how Naruto really tried his patience when he was far too hyperactive for Kakashi's liking. Imagine his surprise when Kakashi reported back.

"Very good actually, it was enjoyable. While he might bounce off the walls when he goes through everyday life, when he is being taught something he wants to learn, he seems most attentive. Though I can't imagine him keeping the enthusiasm through one of the more boring academy lectures."

The Hokage had to raise his eye brows, Kakashi Hatake, enjoying teaching? What next, his student Jiraiya giving up his perverted ways?

"There are a few issues I need to discuss with you though." Kakashi informed the Kage.

"Such as?" Sarutobi replied, showing that he was intent on listening.

"His chakra reserves are enormous, close to low chuunin level." to say that Sarutobi was surprised was like saying Tsunade had a slight alcohol addiction problem. Kakashi continued, ignoring the shocked look on his commander's face "It's so large and dense, he can't perform a basic bunshin. I was wondering if you would give me permission to train him in more advanced chakra control techniques.'

"What did you have in mind?"

"Tree walking, if possible. Most of his assailants these days are the villagers, if he can walk up the side of a building and just stay there for a while till we get to him then there shouldn't be too much hassle in getting him to save himself. It could also lower the body count as I could arrest the people responsible, instead of having to kill them on the spot in order to punish them, while trying to make haste to get Naruto to the hospital."

Sarutobi had to admit Kakashi did bring up some very good points.

"Very well, just do me a favour; don't turn him into a brilliant shinobi at the cost of turning him into a complete social recluse. I don't want him becoming like the Aburame, or worse yet, like Itachi. Only business and nothing else; no spark of life. I often wonder what it is that the Uchiha did to remove the life from that boy's eyes."

Kakashi smiled at the thought, "Don't worry, I don't think that there is ever a chance of that happening."

"Oh and one last request before you are dismissed," Kakashi stopped himself before he shunshined out of the place leaving Naruto with the Sandaime. Sarutobi chucked a wad of notes at Kakashi, "Get him some new clothes. Preferably 2 sets. One dark and another bright. If he can train in stealth in the bright clothes in broad daylight, then he should have no problem in hiding himself in the night with dark clothes on."

Kakashi only nodded before taking the ryou and Naruto in hand and simply walking to the shopping district where they could make their purchases.

Just before leaving he decided to add some information to the lot that he had already reported to the Hokage,

"By the way, I've taken it upon myself to teach him how to swim."

"Oh. That was something I completely overlooked when I was considering what to have you teach him."

-0-

Arriving at the shopping district, Kakashi was itching to whip out a little orange book and continue reading from where he left off, but reasoning told him other wise and he decided that it was for the best that he leave his reading till later. Both sensei and his late wife had constantly admonished him for reading 'Jiraiya's smut'. Both respected the man as a shinobi of the highest caliber, but would not tolerate the orange book he authored. He somehow felt it would dishonour their memories if he read the book they so heavily protested in front of their son. He'll only read it when Naruto wasn't looking.

He decided to simply settle for searching for a shop that would sell the items that he required. The first store that he walked into instantly glared at Naruto before turning to a highly annoyed Kakashi.

"Is there a problem, shopkeeper-san?" Kakashi inquired through a dangerously narrow eye and a voice daring the proprietor to say the wrong thing.

"I'm sorry, sir I didn't notice you, I just happened to see that.. walk in behind you. Don't worry I'll let it out then we can continue our business" referring to Naruto as though he was some kind of filthy animal.

"You didn't see me? Me a man standing some 6 ft tall, yet you notice the barely 3 ft boy, hiding behind my own legs no less." Kakashi retorted, sarcasm dripping from his voice. Now that he had put it that way the shop owner realised just how stupid he had made himself look. Not as though it mattered,

"In any case, my business concerns Naruto, so if you feel that you cannot serve us we will simply leave and be sure that no self respecting shinobi will ever be doing any shopping here."

The shop keeper had only now just realised just how much business he had lost, and was gaping like a fish out of water because of it. Kakashi and Naruto had already left so there was no chance of repairing the situation.

Back out on the street with Naruto and Kakashi, they were looking to find another shop to give their business to. Along the way they came across a shop called 'Higurashi Ninja Equipment'. He pulled Naruto in and they began walking to the counter. The person behind the counter this time addressed Kakashi first,

"Good afternoon, how may I serve you today?"

This was going to be a good way to gauge whether or not they would be shopping here in the future. Kakashi stepped aside to reveal Naruto.

"Actually, where here for Naruto," he stated keeping an eye on the man's reaction the whole time

"Sorry little fella." the shopkeeper said, "didn't see you down there."

'Just the way it should be, instead of insisting that Naruto was more noticeable than a man he was standing behind, roughly twice his height' thought Kakashi while nodding to himself

"Yes we are looking for some clothes to for Naruto-kun, a set of dark clothes and a set of bright clothes."

"Well let's take care of the dark clothes first. Name's Keiichi Higurashi, store owner. No need for you to introduce yourselves, you're both very well known around this city."

In short order, Keiichi had picked out a simple dark blue, almost black t-shirt and pair of shorts and given them to Naruto to try on. While in the change rooms Kakashi asked Keiichi,

"You evidently recognised Naruto, yet you serve him without any issues, why behave so differently from the rest of the population here?" he asked "Not that I'm complaining of course." quickly adding the afterthought.

Keiichi looked very pointedly at Kakashi and said

"I sell katana here, Hatake-san. I can tell the difference between the blade and the sheath that prevents it from cutting indiscriminately." Kakashi nodded understanding the message. It seems that he would be giving the Hokage and afew other nin recommendations to use this shop in preference to others in the future. At some point through his musing Naruto had wondered out of the change stall and waited for inspection. Kakashi nodded his approval and decided to move onto the bright clothes.

"Well do you have anything in bright colours?" Kakashi was doubtful as there wasn't often a need for ninja to attract attention to themselves, and if there was, there would be far more efficient methods of doing it.

"Well, the best I have is this jump suit. Though it's so hideous that I don't think that any one would ever want to wear it." he took one the dust covered suits out from under the counter displaying what he was talking about. Kakashi could easily see what he was talking about, though it seemed Naruto had found a love greater than ramen, well almost.

"Awesome, I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it." he yelled in excitement

"Apparently we are taking the jumpsuit as well as the dark clothes. How much for the lot?" Kakashi mused to Keiichi

"I'll charge you for the cost of the dark set only this time. I didn't think that I would ever get rid of those jumpsuits. When he grows out of that one just come back. I have more in larger sizes under the counter that I don't dare display."

That settled it in Kakashi's mind; this shop was getting a recommendation to the Hokage, not only serving them in the first place, but inviting them back for subsequent visits.

-0-

When Naruto and Kakashi walked back into Sarutobi's office, the Sandaime had for a split second thought that the sun had walked through the office doors. When his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he realised it was Naruto in an extremely bright jump suit. Realising that they had gone and completed their shopping trip and that it was now time for Naruto to return to the orphanage. Kakashi informed the Hokage about Keiichi's shop and then proceeded to drop Naruto at the orphanage.

After dropping Naruto off to a smiling matron, Kakashi left, the smile from the matron's face disappearing immediately. She hit Naruto across the head before ordering him inside, or else no scraps for him to eat tonight. He scuttled in as fast as he could, not that it would have changed anything, her mind was already made up and Naruto was getting nothing to eat that night.

With nothing to do he started meditating the way Kakashi-sensei had taught him. He was focusing on brining his chakra out. Before long he was slipping into what had to be a dream

Mindscape

Naruto was walking a long and dilapidated corridor that could only be truly described as a sewer. When he came to the end of the passage he found a giant wooden cage, with some funny symbols on a piece of paper attached to the door. Inside he could see an animal thrashing about, a fox he realised. He tried calling out to it, but it appeared not to hear to him. He tried again, calling louder this time, still achieving no response. In the animal's wild thrashing, it turned to look him, and stared straight through him, as though it wasn't seeing anything all. Puzzled, he didn't pay too much attention as his surroundings slowly started fading into black around him. Then he knew nothing as sleep finally enveloped him.

The next morning he had no recollection of any of the strange happening that occurred the previous night. He simply waited for Kakashi to show so that he could continue his training. He had enjoyed spending time with Kakashi; he payed attention to him long enough, and not the usual kind of attention the villagers had towards him.

-0-

The days training was spent further practicing what he had learnt yesterday, introducing arms to his swimming, something that he didn't quite get as he was having trouble remembering to blow bubbles and move his arms and legs, or he would forget to breath. Kakashi had told him what he had achieved was good any way as the stroke looked good, he just had to remember he wasn't a fish, the inference causing Naruto to giggle. It was then that Kakashi realised that this was the first time he had heard Naruto laugh, not that devious laugh that let him knew that a prank was coming, but a genuine laugh from joy. It was something that warmed his heart, something that he vowed to make happen more often. The hand seals and jutsu were also reviewed, though Kakashi intentionally left of the bunshin.

Over the weeks Naruto was introduced to the academy taijutsu style, a very basic style, used only to give beginners a foundation on which to build their own techniques if they didn't come from a clan with clan taught techniques. He was also given a crash course in physical exercise in order to help him move faster and give him a higher stamina, not only in battle, but to outrun the villagers. It was best if Naruto did not attack, though it was fact that he would only be doing so in self defence, the civilian council took precedence over the shinobi in purely non-shinobi matters. This included punishment of 'criminals' when necessary. It also included adoption when the few who sympathised with Naruto's plight tried to adopt him, they found their every motion blocked.

Finally, he was given the stealth training he so desperately needed. He learned about moving in the shadows, he learned about successfully hiding himself. Most importantly he learned that it was possible to be quiet once in a while, something that appeared to be a gift from the heavens.

The most memorable day was quite possibly when Kakashi introduced him to tree climbing. The twist was that Naruto couldn't use his hands. Kakashi had demonstrated as usual, and it had Naruto so excited he tried to charge up the nearest tree. It was amazing that he managed to get four paces up the tree considering that he did not realise that he had to apply chakra to the soles of his feet in order to 'glue' himself to the tree bark.

It was some weeks after Naruto had started training with his sensei when Kakashi turned up at the orphanage to pick him up for the day's regimen. When he got there an eagerly awaiting Naruto was nowhere to be found. Upon asking the matron she stated

"I kicked him out last night. He was sitting with his eyes closed and had some blue energy flying around him. I couldn't risk the other children's safety in case he was preparing an attack. So I had to kick him out."

Kakashi was livid. There was a protocol to be followed if there was ever a situation with Naruto, and she had just blown right past it. Right now he couldn't really detain her, it was more important that he found him immediately before anyone tried to harm him. He quickly made six kage bunshin, similar to the regular bunshin, but they could interact with their environment while the regulars could not and when dispelled any info gained would be passed to the user. They went off in pairs, one to look after Naruto should a pair find him, the other to dispel to pass the location to the real Kakashi.

-0-

It was not long before the real Kakashi had found Naruto huddled in a dumpster, in a nearby alley. The bunshin were dispelled as Kakashi took Naruto to his house to get cleaned up before taking him to the civilian council office.

This was the last straw. He was only a boy only just past his fourth birthday, living out on the streets. There was no way he could live on his own, he was simply too young and how in hell would he manage to maintain the place, much less find the money to eat and live. He walked into the appropriate sector of the office.

The person working on the desk looked up, saw who Kakashi was with and looked back down just as fast. Kakashi coughed to gain her attention before calmly saying

"I'm here to have Naruto Uzumaki put under my legal guardianship."

The woman didn't even bother looking up, " Join the queue."

Kakashi couldn't tell if she was trying to be funny, because the room was completely empty, frankly he didn't care. He was fed up and he was here to put an end to it. He shot a quick look at Naruto and realised that he was distracted by something outside the window. Kakashi pulled up his hitai-ate and said rather forcefully,

"Will you at least look at me when you talk to me?"

When she looked up she was immediately caught in a genjutsu given off by the Sharingan eye in his left socket.

"You will get me the forms to fill that will put Naruto under my legal guardianship."

She walked off in a zombie like state, retrieving the forms from a nearby filing cabinet, waiting for Kakashi to finish filling out the forms. After an hour and many miles of red tape, Kakashi and Naruto walked out of the guardianship office, with papers in hand stating that Kakashi was now Naruto's legal guardian.

He idly thought that he would have to go and inform the Hokage of the change in both his and Naruto's living arrangements. Naruto, well he couldn't get over the fact that he had been adopted, and by Kakashi-sensei no less, was so close to crying tears of joy. You could see the tears well in his eyes. Kakashi, finally felt he was on the road to repaying the man he considered a second father. Training Naruto just didn't feel right; it didn't feel enough, but now, he felt being closer to being complete and repaying the debt he felt he had incurred to Minato Namikaze.

**A/N: **Another chapter done. Had to go through twice just to make sure it was good. Next chapter will be out soon but not very soon.

Don't be compelled to review but I'd really appreciate it if you tell me whats good about the story and what you would like to see in it.

-kamizon


	3. There Is Always A Source

**A/N**: Kamizon here! This is chapter three of 'The Eternal Chimera'. Before I do break into the story I have some notes to make.

First, there are a couple of time skips in here. Nothing major just some character development. Bear with it please.

Secondly, there's quite a twist here. It makes this fic gradually move away from canon. Most might not be expecting it... But you'll like it!

I'd like to thank ThunderNinjaBird for putting in the first review for this story. Thanks also to those who put this story in their Favs and Follows.

On with the story...

**Chapter 3: There Is Always A Source**

So soon it had been two years. Naruto was still living with Kakashi and loving every minute of it. In the past Naruto didn't really have many happy times, all he had were memories of moments where he had to fear for his life as a result of the villagers' persecution. These days he had times that he could look back upon in many years to come and say that they were actually joyous moments.

That didn't mean to say that he had no bad memories while being under Kakashi's direct care. There were still the odd attempts at ruining his current lifestyle but there were far fewer attempts on Naruto's life.

In the two years that Kakashi had spent looking after Naruto many things had changed. Their relationship had been taken from that of a teacher and student to that of a mentoring older brother, Kakashi had left the ANBU and also put his reading of Icha Icha in hold.

Kakashi, for his part, had no idea how he had lived before adopting Naruto, it was just so much fun now. He couldn't conceivably imagine living without him. He was like a breath of fresh air. Just fulfilling if you will. He still remembered the conversation that he had with the Hokage that particular day and the chaos that ensued shortly after.

**FLASHBACK**

Kakashi had just walked into the Hokage's office. Sarutobi greeted them somewhat surprised at seeing them, normally they would train and then return to report on the progress Naruto was making at the end of the week. Being only the middle of the week, he wasn't expecting to see either of them for the next two or three days, unless maybe a mission that required Kakashi's skills specifically came up.

"What can I do for you two today?" the Hokage asked, Kakashi wasted no time in his reply.

"There is nothing that you can do for us. I just came to inform you that I have adopted Naruto before you hear something strange from another source."

If there was anything Sarutobi was expecting it was not that, his mouth fell open, pipe dropping to the ground. He was at a loss for words.

"How?" was all he managed to grunt out, not trusting himself to speak further. Kakashi wasn't even given time to answer as the door to the Hokage's office burst open. It was Asuka Haruno, Sarutobi looked past her to see his secretary giving him an apologetic look, he sent her a look back that seem to say that he knew that she could have done anything to prevent it.

"Hokage-sama, it has been brought to our attention that someone has adopted the demo…" she caught herself just in time; it was almost a force of habit to call Naruto by such hate filled names. Once she had calmed herself and was thinking slightly clearer she restarted,

"It has been brought to our attention that someone has adopted Naruto Uzumaki."

The Hokage was about to answer her when someone beat him to the punch, Kakashi entered the conversation,

"'Brought to your attention'? I adopted Naruto not half an hour ago, how could you possibly know so quickly?" Kakashi of course knew how they knew. There was some sort of plot to never have Naruto adopted; ensuring that he always had a miserable life. It was that it was impossible to prove. Now that the civilian council had found out so soon after the papers had been processed and well before any formal complaint could follow the proper official channels. The person that had served him at the desk in the civilian council office must have leaked the copy of the adoption paperwork that were currently held in his hands. She must have contacted Asuka Haruno, a recent addition to the civilian council.

Asuka Haruno had only just joined the council. She was fast on her way to becoming its head, due to her unrivaled and thinly veiled hatred of Naruto. Nobody could work out where the hatred came from, she had not lost any one particularly close in the Kyuubi attack, yet the hatred was there and burning stronger than any Uchiha katon jutsu.

"Naruto Uzumaki is special. Special circumstances deserve special attention." Turning back to the Hokage, Asuka continued, "For this reason we have called a council meeting of both the civilian and ninja sectors."

It was now Sarutobi's eyes that narrowed in suspicion. "How did you arrange the ninja council to convene? The only four people that have such power in the village are myself, and any one of the three village elders." He also had his suspicions though he knew she would never confirm them.

"That is not the issue right now. Both of the councils are gathered and waiting in the council chambers. It is best that we do not delay them any further." She had dodged the question and attempted to redirected his attention. He was aware of this but as it stood he would rather just get the meeting out of the way.

-0-

In the council chambers there was a large ruckus. Asuka drew their attention, announcing the reason that we are gathered.

"We are here to discuss the implications of the adoption of one Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto for his part couldn't understand why his adoption was such a big deal for everyone else. This should be special to only him and Kakashi sensei, with a select few others to be allowed to celebrate with them. Those were his thoughts as he walked out of the council chamber because he wasn't a council member.

"Before we begin, I would like to ask why the ninja council was also gathered." Sarutobi demanded

"Simple, to decide upon what punishment should be suitable for Kakashi Hatake should we deem disciplinary action be necessary." Was Asuka's smug response.

"The ninja council is only concerned with dealing punishment for professional misconduct. As such there is no need for them to be here. Any member of the ninja council that does not wish to witness this has my permission to leave."

No sooner than the words had left Sarutobi's mouth Hiashi Hyuuga and Fugaku Uchiha had shunshined out of the chambers.

After having part of her plan demolished by the Hokage, Asuka settled for trying to remove Naruto from Kakashi's guardianship.

"Well, it still remains to be seen whether it is a good idea for Hatake-san to adopt Naruto."

Maintaining his usual air of casual indifference Kakashi asked "On what grounds do you deem me unfit to look after Naruto?"

"We are all aware of Naruto's unique circumstances." She said, skirting around the thought of saying 'he has a demon sealed within him!' for fear of her life. "We are simply unsure how stable he is or whether he will attack. We simply have the adopting family or individual's best interests at heart."

Kakashi was smiling, she had made it too easy, "Are you telling me that an aged matron with no battle skills is better equipped than me to handle Naruto if such an unlikely event occurred? Me; a highly experienced Jounin of considerable standing in this village?"

Sarutobi cast his eyes about the room, Shikaku Nara, while appearing to be asleep was paying close attention to the proceedings and had a knowing grin about his face if you cared to look closely enough. Tsume Inuzuka, head of the Inuzuka Clan, Chouza Akimichi, head of the Akimichi clan and Inoichi Yamanaka, head of the Yamanaka clan were not even bothering to hide their glee. For many years each had made attempts to adopt Naruto into the family, each failing every time. Shibi Aburame's facial expression could not be seen through the high collared jacked and dark sunglasses he wore, but there had to have been at least a smirk on his face from the proceedings. While he had not made an active effort to adopt Naruto, he or his clansmen had time and time again rendered assistance; using their kikai bugs to mercilessly drain an assailant's chakra till they died. Attacking a mere child, more defenseless than one of their bugs deserved no mercy.

Kakashi continued while Asuka was still mulling over his words, "Also if he really is as dangerous as you insist, then is it wise to leave him in a place filled with so many other vulnerable children?"

Asuka was quick on the rebuttal, "As you said, it is very unlikely that he will ever attack, so there is no risk."

'HA! Got you there, take that you stupid one-eyed cyclops' raged the inner persona that all Haruno women possess, not stopping to consider that 'one-eyed cyclops' was not much of an insult.

Kakashi smiled once again "Just as you say, it is very unlikely that he would ever attack. So there is no risk there therefore I shouldn't have to fear for my life and no reason for you to worry about my well being now that I have adopted him."

She was beat and he knew it. She had nothing to say; she simply opened and closed her mouth like a fish gulping air.

Not wanting to waste any more time here, Sarutobi called the meeting to an end before any other member of the civilian council grew a brain and tried to find some other way to remove Naruto from Kakashi's custody.

**FLASHBACK END**

Kakashi still thought back to that day when he felt like he needed a lift in his day. After all it was not often that you got to silence the civilian council's power broker without the rest of them even getting a word in, almost making it pointless having gathered them in the first place.

Right now Naruto and Kakashi were playing a game of hide and seek; this was to practice stealth techniques. It wasn't quite as simple as the civilian version. The hiding and seeking was still the same, but the hiding person needed to learn to hide so much better if they wanted to avoid being caught.

Another difference was that that person was allowed to move around while they were hiding. This was a double edged sword, move to remain concealed, or remain still and avoid giving your position way but risk being caught easiliy; it was a very fine balance as any movement had to be precise and not alert the 'enemy'.

This was often a game he had played with his first and only genin team, though there were a few extra rules. Like using a genjutsu to disorient the searcher, though it had to be placed very subtly otherwise you were classed as being found.

As he continued his search pattern he heard a rustling in the bushes nearby, a normal person would have passed it off as the breeze, but Kakashi was not a normal person. He had found Naruto he walked over to the bushes and placed his hand on Naruto's head. He had done quite well not to be spotted considering he was still into wearing those hideous orange jumpsuits that they managed to obtain from Keiichi.

Kakashi had many other games that he used to teach Naruto strategy, it always worked best with games. He was still a firm believer that children learned best when they were having fun with what they were doing, something that Naruto seemed to prove over and over again.

Kakashi taught him strategy. The ideal game to play would have been shogi, but seeing as Naruto was too young he settled for snakes and ladders. The first thing he had taught Naruto to do was how to cheat at throwing the dice and always get the number that you wanted. Of course once Naruto had learnt this he always went for six, only to end up back on the beginning square after the 5th roll very time. He had quickly learnt that it was not always the highest number that got him the furthest, but sometimes that a lower number could be better, especially if you landed on a ladder. With that in mind, Kakashi then made the objective to reach the goal square in as few turns as possible. It took Naruto many weeks of experimenting before he got the optimal route that Kakashi had planned in his head almost immediately. Once he had completed that he got out a different board, increased difficulty this time to nut out the correct route. Surprisingly, it took him less time than the original; he was learning to consider all his options faster and make correct choices.

Their training had continued over the years. He could now effectively do the henge and the kawarimi. Bunshin was still impossible for him to perform. Kakashi had kept to his word to Sarutobi and not taught him any of the higher level jutsu from his vast repertoire. His chakra control, while much better, was still not as good as Kakashi would have liked, particularly with all the tree walking training he was doing; then again Kakashi was using himself as a yard stick, a person that was already a genin by his Naruto's age.

He knew that using genjutsu was out of the question for Naruto, the best he could hope for was to teach him how to get himself out of them. This was easier said than done as it involved putting Naruto into a genjutsu, and the ones he knew were far too extreme to subject a child of barely 6 yrs old to. To help he sought out Kurenai Yuuhi, a promising young chuunin. She was far better than he was at genjutsu and was able to cast minor ones of her own creation on the spot, often used for punishing perverts.

When he had asked her to cast a genjutsu over Naruto showing a picture of Gai Maito chucking Ichiraku's ramen down the drain she gave him a quizzical look.

He gave her a sheepish grin and asked her not to question. The genjutsu was cast,

**GENJUTSU VISION**

"YOSH! Someone's flames of youth have started to dwindle! To consume ramen, such an unyouthful act! I will make my own flames of youth burn even brighter by tipping this horrid ramen down the drain." Gai proceed to pour the ramen down a drain that had just magically appeared.

**VISION END**

That was all poor Naruto could take. The speech was enough to tolerate, green spandex was bad, the bowl haircut was worse, the fuzzy eye brows; well they were horrendous. But the compared to the evil of chucking perfectly good ramen down the drain, the rest was nothing. Naruto was panting hard, with a horrified look on his sweat covered face; never had he seen such an evil thing in his life, he had to get out and did the only thing he could remember Kakashi telling him to do; emit a large pulse of chakra to end the jutsu.

Kakashi for his part was grinning. He had just taught Naruto to escape genjutsu all the while getting one up on his 'eternal rival' with him being none the wiser. Kurenai decided something were best left unasked and decided to stay and help Naruto train in order to reduce the amount of chakra he use to dispel the jutsu. Naruto agreed to be subjected to more genjutsu on the condition that he was "never ever to see the food of gods" being destroyed again.

-0-

It was now a new year and the day of the first day at the Konoha Ninja Academy.

"Aniki-kun, are you going to take me to the academy today?"

Kakashi smiled a Naruto addressed him as his older brother,

'Rather fitting actually.' Kakashi thought, 'the son of the man I consider a surrogate father referring to me as his older brother. That's nice'

"Yes Naruto-kun, don't worry, I'll see you off. This is an important day for you, I wouldn't miss it for the world." Kakashi reassured, his one visible eye crinkling with kindness while placing some bacon on Naruto's plate.

After a short breakfast, we find the pair roof hoping towards the ninja academy. Silently Kakashi thanked himself for all the physical training that he had done with Naruto over the past 2 years. It had consisted of swimming practice and daily jogging to improve his stamina and speed as well as a few exercises to build some strength into his muscles, though not too much as to affect his growth. While they weren't travelling anywhere near the speeds that Kakashi was used to, it would have driven him nuts to have to have traveled at ground level at civilian pace.

In 15 minutes they had reached the academy. Kakashi turned to Naruto with a few last messages.

"Alright, every time you come here from now on, I want you to time yourself. Each time you should aim to beat your best time in arriving here. You don't have to beat it every time, that would be ridiculous, just focus on getting here as fast as you can and remember don't claim you beat the time if you end up taking a shorter route." Kakashi watched as the devious smile on Naruto's face fell, he could read that smile any time and he often had a fairly good idea as to what Naruto was thinking when he used it, after all he was getting used to Naruto's unpredictability.

"Secondly, ask questions. Even if they make you feel stupid, ask them any way. You will learn more if you are asking questions. This will help you later on in your ninja life." Kakashi didn't need to go much further than that, the explanation would be lost, but it was a vital part of being a ninja. Questioning everything, from information given to the reality of one's surroundings was vital. Even if the question was asked only in one's head, it was better to answer yourself, rather than have a question unasked and thus unanswered, particularly in the field.

Naruto gave Kakashi a hug, no longer flinching at human contact like he had done only 2 short years ago. Kakashi watched his retreating back for a while, before shunshining home. He had put of reading his prized book series for 2 whole years now, he'd be damned if he didn't catch up while he had the chance.

-0-

Naruto was looking through each class list attached to each of the doors. He finally came to a door which had his name posted on the class list. He cracked a wide grin as he recognised some of the names on the list. Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara, Chouji Akimichi and Shino Aburame were all on his class list as well. Over the two year period the 5 of them had grown quite close; well four of them had. They were about as friendly as anyone had ever been with an Aburame, not for want of trying, but due to Shino being so withdrawn like the rest of his clan.

Two other names also stuck out; Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka. He recognised the names, though didn't get the same thrill of excitement that went through him when he saw the other four boys' names. Ino was polite to him when they were with their parents, but when their parents weren't watching she avoided all four boys like the plague. It wasn't due to her parents' attitudes towards Naruto, simply that she thought that boys were 'icky' and tried to spend as little time with them as possible.

Sakura was a different kettle of fish all together. Naruto and Sakura had something of a history together, as was to be expected; it was hardly surprising that Asuka's highly negative view of Naruto had rubbed off on her daughter, indeed going as far to actively warn her daughter and tell her to keep away from the boy.

Sakura for her part could not see what was so bad about the boy, but her mother had told her to keep away and not become friends. When she went to the park she found a group of children no older than the age of five teasing Naruto about everything, from his orange clothes to his whisker like marks on his face. Sakura, glad that they were for once not teasing her, joined in. Ino, could be seen somewhere in the back ground not participating, but not saying anything in Naruto's defence, like the 4 boys who were his friends.

This continued on for weeks until Ino finally approached Sakura and somehow convinced her to stop. Ino had offered to be Sakura's friend if she stopped teasing Naruto. In Sakura's defence, the only reason she teased him was because others did. But she still gave him the looks the villagers sent his way.

Naruto walked into the class and noticed that three of his four friends were already seated, only Kiba was missing. He sat on Shikamaru's left while Chouji was seated on his right. This left space for Kiba to sit on Naruto's own left and the group could sit together through school. Kiba siddled into the class only a few minutes after Naruto. Naruto failed to notice as he was now taking note of the rest of his classmates.

There was a boy in the corner with obsidian black hair. He was wearing a blue t-shit and ninja sandals with a white pair of shorts. He also had bandaging going around his shins as well as his forehead. He didn't seem to be talking to anyone, but there did seem to be an unusually large number of girls sitting around him.

The next person he took notice of was a girl with indigo hair that seemed as though she was trying to mimic a turtle by disappearing into her massively over sized jacket. The jacket was beige in colour, and was complimented by a pair of blue three quarter length shinobi pants. The thing that held Naruto's attention though was her eyes. From what he could see they had no pupils and reminded him of the full moon, something he loved starting at with either his friends or his aniki when they all had the time.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the rough opening of the door to the room. A man with silver hair walked in first, closely followed by a man with brown hair pulled back into a pony tail and a scar across the bridge of his nose.

The man with the ponytail spoke first,

"Good morning class, my name is Iruka Umino and this is my colleague Mizuki Bakamono, though you may refer to us as Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei. Together we will be your Chuunin instructors through your academy life, providing tuition in the ninja arts as well as areas such as battle tactics, survival skills, mathematics, language and Konoha's history." Many giggles had broken out during Iruka's introduction of Mizuki, not that he could really blame them. But really? BAKAmono?

The day started out with the typical self introductions (AN, sorry, but I'm not going to run, through these, I have a feeling that this chapter is going to end up rather long as it is). This was followed up by a history lesson, something that the students would deem the second most unwanted thing in their entire academy life. The coveted first place went to Iruka's patented 'Big Head' jutsu, which was discovered a short while later when nearly everyone was asleep.

The lesson was followed up by the highly anticipated lecture in chakra, which was a complete let down, they only really discussed what chakra was and its uses; there was no practical which thoroughly disappointed many of the students, mostly those who had not accessed their chakra yet.

-0-

Elsewhere Kakashi was wondering around, not really sure of what he should do with he regained freedom. The decision was soon taken out of his hands when and ANBU officer shunshined right in front of him.

"Hatake-san, the Hokage has requested your presence."

Fully expecting the ANBU to shunshin away again, Kakashi started to make his way down the street once again. Kakashi turned and said to the man

"You can leave now. Your message has been passed on."

"Actually I have orders to 'make you feel hell' until you actually arrive at the Hokage's office."

"Well I'd love to see you try. I live with Naruto, so I've built up a pretty high resistance to irritating things." Kakashi had a smug look about his face.

"The Hokage did warn me of such, so he gave me the ultimate battle plan. Henge!"

Looking skeptical, Kakashi waited for the smoke to clear with a grin replacing the smug look he was currently wearing. His scepticism soon turned to absolute horror, the ANBU had henged into Maito Gai, his 'eternal rival'.

'No he wouldn't!' Kakashi though wildly, his stomach knotting with apprehension.

"YOSH! LET THE POWER OF YOUTH EXPLODE!"

He did, succeed and Kakashi wasn't having any of it. If all it took was a visit to the Hokage then so be it; anything was better than that, well…nearly anything.

At the Hokage tower an old man waited patiently for the visit he was surely about to receive. Two minutes after having sent the ANBU agent, Kakashi Hatake was standing before him; it had to be some kind of record.

"That was below the belt Hokage-sama." Kakashi pointed an accusing finger at the aging Hokage. He simply smiled at Kakashi, finally having something against the eternally tardy ninja.

"Kakashi, we are ninja, there are no real rules and certainly no line below which we cannot hit." The grin never leaving his face.

The grin suddenly disappeared, showing that he was going to be completely serious now. Kakashi noticing the change in demeanor responded accordingly by withdrawing his hand and standing to attention, showing that he was listening.

"I have an offer, for you. I want you to listen to the whole thing before you decline. I want you to rejoin ANBU." Detecting that Kakashi was about to interrupt as he thought that was the whole offer, he quickly spoke again, raising his voice as he continued.

"I want you to be assigned to my personal guard here in the village. There are many benefits to this. The risk is far lower than that of any other ANBU missions, this way you stay in the village when you are on duty and you don't have to leave Naruto unattended for days. Finally, financially you will be better off. You have been surviving for the past couple of years on the monthly stipend that I allow you out of the budget. This will give you the chance to earn money far above that monthly allowance."

Kakashi mulled it over in his head. The two things that had Kakashi most concerned about rejoining the ANBU were the mission risk and leaving Naruto alone while he was away on missions. If Kakashi were to die while he was out on a mission then Naruto would be left alone again. If Naruto were to die while Kakashi left him to go on a mission, Kakashi may very well be committing sepaku. This offer removed those two factors.

"What are the hours?" Kakashi asked, hoping that he would say that it was from 9 am till 3 pm; the hours that Naruto was in the academy.

"6 am till 2.30 pm. Eight hour shifts with a 30 minutes 'on call' paid break. In other words if I call you through those 30 minutes you drop what you are doing and come. In fact, if I call you at any time between those hours, you drop what you are doing and come." Sarutobi finished rather sternly. Kakashi realised that the Hokage was referring to his tardy ways.

There wasn't much need for further consideration; the hours were not perfect, but better than he could have received.

"I accept. Thank you for the kind offer Hokage-sama.

"Good, you start next week and Kakashi, be on time every time. This appointment is one that many would give their left hand for. Just as easily as I have given it I can just as easily take you of the duty. Dismissed." With a sharp nod Kakashi shunshined home, realising that he would not have the time to read starting next week, so he was going to get through all he could in the week he had left, blood supply permitting of course.

-0-

The weeks to come were hardly anything of note; Kakashi had started his job as one of the Hokage's personal guards. At the end of the month he was pleasantly surprised with the pay he received, more than enough to cover both his Icha Icha addiction as well as Naruto's ramen addiction and then leave some left over for the other more…essential…essentials in life.

Naruto was thoroughly enjoying school, well anything practical anyway. The only real subject that Naruto found remotely interesting was history and only when it specifically included the Yondaime Hokage. While the other Kages were 'cool and powerful and stuff' nothing beats beating the strongest demon of them all; the Kyuubi no Youko.

He found the practical side of anything really easy, mostly because he had been trained in it in the last 2 years. There were other exceptional children in his year. Ino, Kiba and Chouji and Sakura all shone in given fields; Kiba and Chouji in taijutsu the girls more so in the use of jutsu or in Sakura's case bookwork and academics. There were two standout students. The first was Shino and the second and current top of the class was Sasuke, the boy that Naruto had observed from afar on the very first day. In fact, if it weren't for his book work, Naruto would have been right up there with them as one of the topped ranked students in the class, consequently, he was only ranked average, due to his abysmal academic ability.

There were two students that baffled the teachers. Both of them were clan heirs, so it was expected that they would do better than they currently were. Hinata Hyuuga, while not being a genius was still fairly apt at book work, though not enough to earn her the top place amongst the potential kunoichi. Her ability was brilliant, almost top of the class, in fact there were only 3 people that could beat her; Naruto, Shino and Sasuke. The thing that baffled the teachers was that her taijutsu was terrible. She came from a clan that was known to use what is regarded as the strongest taijutsu style in Konoha, the Gentle Fist. Yet every time she entered a match she was defeated, it was clear to the chuunin instructors that every time she had a clear shot she hesitated, not wanting to injure her opponent, ultimately leading to her defeat.

The second person that mystified the instructors was Shikamaru Nara. He was poorly ranked in taijutsu, often forfeiting his matches. His ability to use the jutsu was relatively competent, but it was his test scores that confused them. Every time he would answer only so many of the questions in the exam, getting all the ones he did answer correct. Though he seemed to have the potential to actually ace all of his test he only score enough to score exactly 50% leaving him with the lowest passing score of the class.

Before long half of the year had passed. Sasuke still maintained the overall top position in the class, while Shino was still hot on his heels. It was only very occasionally that Sasuke lost to any one, any if he did it was always to Naruto in a taijutsu match, simply for the blonde's unwillingness to give up and his freakish endurance.

The Uchiha clan council could not have him, would not have him 'losing' to any one in any regard, after all, they were the Uchiha; the strongest in the village. To give him the best advantage that he could have they enlisted the help of none other than his older brother to train his, after all he was a jounin already and only at the age of 11. At first Irachi was reluctant to train him, though when he realised that their training time would not be under any observation, he quickly changed his mind.

**(What actually goes on)**

It had always bothered Itachi that the Uchiha had rested on their laurels and claimed to be the greatest in the village, due to the sheer power of the Sharingan. It always annoyed Itachi that he was referred to as the 'Uchiha prodigy', as though saying that he only had power due to his clan of birth not his own hard work. It made Itachi angry; not simply annoyed, irritated or any of those other more mild emotions, but outright furious that the clan of Sharingan wielders believed only in the betterment of the clan and not the village as a whole. With his younger brother under his tutelage he was determined to have at least one other Uchiha that saw his views, even if he had to beat it into his younger brother and that is exactly what he did.

**FLASHBACK**

"So Sasuke, this will be our first time, not as brothers, but as sensei and pupil. As such you will regard me as sensei through this time." Itachi informed Sasuke, who all the while just remained silent, giving small nods that he had understood.

"Now we will spar with me asking questions throughout. I will fight at your level, though should you get a question wrong, I will not check my hand and you will feel the full force of the blow."

"We begin now. Sasuke, when you fight, whom are you fighting for?…" before the question had been completed it was already being answered.

"The Uchiha clan." Sasuke answered, as though it were almost a conditioned response. Before he knew Itachi had moved, Sasuke was sent sprawling on the ground. Itachi's eyes showed no emotion.

"Incorrect, try again. Who do you fight for?"

"Father…to make him proud." Sasuke was recoiled as a fist planted itself deep within his gut.

"Wrong, you fight for your village. The village hands you the assignment, an assignment designed to benefit the village in some way, from the lowest of D ranks to the highest of S rank missions. We will try again, this time with a different question"

Sasuke nodded, not being able to speak properly after being winded by the punch. Itachi had said he was not going to check his hand, yet Sasuke had the distinct feeling he was anyway. The sparing had resumed and was in full throttle when Itachi quizzed him again.

"Why is it that you are the top of your class? Why am I so powerful at such a young age?" Sasuke listened to the full question before choosing to respond. Once Itachi had finished only then did he speak up, feeling he had found the correct answer and avoided another painful blow.

"It is because we are Uchiha." He was sent flying this time. It had made Itachi lose his temper.

'To have the arrogance of our clan so firmly embedded into one so young, such a pity.'

"Try again. Why do we prevail over others, even some of over our own clansmen?"

Sasuke was panicking, why did he and his brother succeed and do better than others, even those inside their clan. If he and the rest of his clan were same in being Uchiha then he should not be able to prevail over them based on that merit alone. He knew what the answer was NOT, but couldn't figure out what the answer was. What did he and his brother have in common that they did not have in common with the rest of the clan. Well there was only one thing that they did in common and that was that they enjoyed training…that was it.

"Because…because we work and train hard."

Sasuke closed his eyes, expecting a devastating blow for saying something so

'un-Uchiha like', but nothing came. Then he looked up to see a smiling older brother.

"Correct. We try hard and work for what we have, it was not simply given to us. Remember that the path of a ninja is not an easy one, but with some determination you can truly accomplish great things. Work hard and go beyond what this clan believes to be its best."

"Finally, there is one last question I would ask of you. Why do you fight?"

Sasuke was troubled by this question. An idiot would have answered immediately what he had been taught by his father and the clan council.

'Fight for power and fight for the pride of the Uchiha.'

Sasuke was far from an idiot and realised this is the last answer Itachi would want to hear. Then he realised, if he did not fight for this purpose then he had no reason to fight, none of his own at least anyway.

"Sasuke, the last question does not need to be answered right away. If you do not have an answer now, develop one. All I ask is that you might tell me when you do, as a request from an older brother, not a task from your sensei."

**FLASHACK END**

Itachi's training and questioning of some of his firmest belief continued throughout the rest of the school year. It was through this time that they actually became brothers by more than just title or by blood relation, but by their ties to each other.

Slowly Sasuke changed, changing those around him in the process. His rivalry with Naruto had not ended and had forced the young blond to work even harder if he ever wanted to be considered on the same level as Sasuke in at least taijutsu.

This in turn forced Kiba and Chouji to up their efforts not to get left behind by their friend. Shikamaru still had the mentality that it was all still far too 'troublesome'.

Ino and Sakura just as determined not to get left behind by the boys and prove their own worth started training harder to catch up the gap that seemed to have opened out over the few weeks. Hinata was not to feel the effects of such a thing as well. Her clan had deemed that Hanabi would make a far better heir to the Hyuuga than Hinata. As a direct result Hinata stopped receiving private training from her father who had opted to train Hanabi. Hiashi had his own secret agenda. He had declared Hanabi the heir to save her from receiving the caged bird seal on her third birthday. While it pained him to sever connections with his first child, he still had to protect he second born.

Hinata was completely unaware of the politics that surrounded both her and her younger sister, though due to the clan disowning her in all regards except name she was free to do as she please and do as she pleased she did. She was not going to be seen as weak by the rest of her class mates. They had already changed themselves for the better. She was now determined to look to the rest of her class as a source of inspiration and improve herself along with them. Where she once struggled to prove herself to her clan, she now thrived, proving herself to her classmates and sensei, all the while a genjutsu mistress watching from afar as the student she privately tutored excelled and improved in leaps and bounds.

To Mizuki and Iruka it was inconceivable that one class could change so drastically due to the change in attitude of one student, yet it had happened. Even many of the so called 'die-hard' fan girls had changed their ways. Sakura had often wondered if she would have been like that, liking Sasuke only to fit in with the crowd if she had not met and befriended Ino.

It seemed that there were going to be quite a few genin teams passing this year and not just the exam, but the jounin administered test as well.

**One year later**

It was raining. It seemed as though heaven itself had opened up to share in the grief and mourning that was passing through the town like a ripple. It was a sad day for many and whispers were about. Snippets of conversation could be heard everywhere, all on the same topic of conversation.

"Did you hear?"

"Yes, did you?"

"All wiped out. Poor Sasuke is the only one that was left. How horrible."

"No one with the Sharingan survived. Only Sasuke; the last Uchiha."

Sasuke was not sure what to feel. On one hand there was the immeasurable grief and sorrow over losing one's family to one person in one night. On the other hand it was the villagers' conversations that made as though all of the clan had been wiped out. It was not the case. Sasuke was the only one who had any potential of bearing the Sharingan; that much was true. Yet those who still bore the Uchiha name yet not the bloodline still lived, the prized Sharingan, sadly no one acknowledge their pain.

His bother Itachi had gone on a rampage the previous night, killing all who could wield the Sharingan. In his rampage he had killed many who had married into the Uchiha family for power and prestige. The only members of this group allowed to live were Sasuke, the youngest with the potential to awaken the Sharingan, the many outsiders who had married into the clan who had genuinely fallen in love with an Uchiha and the discarded clan members; those who were considered as trash after they failed to awaken the Sharingan.

Sasuke, while not there to watch the full extent of the massacre, was there to see his beloved elder brother kill his father in cold blood.

**FLASHBACK (Uchiha Massacre)**

Sasuke walked through the Uchiha Compound doors only to here moans and wailings of pain as people clung to loved ones. Dyed in red, these people held onto the lifeless bodies of their treasured people, it seemed there was no pattern to it. Men, women children of all ages, the youngest being only a little older than Sasuke were all lying dead around him. He tried to ask them who had committed this act, but he would get no response. He simply rushed of in the direction of his father's house with fear evident in his eyes.

He opened the door only to receive a splatter of blood across his eyes, tainting his vision red. What he could see was his mother crying over his father's body as he slowly bled to death.

"Itachi, please. Just do it." Even now Mikoto Uchiha was a devout wife.

Itachi started with a quavering voice, "Oka-san, I cannot grant you release. You must still look after Sasuke-kun."

Upon the mention of her other son her frantic thoughts seemed to clear, she still had one more son to raise, it seems that it would be a while before she could join her beloved on the other side.

Itachi turned to Sasuke, "Sasuke, there's now only two people left worthy of keeping the Sharingan, you and me. This clan has been purged of its stupid ideals. Please remember all that I have taught you." Itachi silently prayed that he would remember not only the lessons on the ninja arts, but also why he should work hard and not fall into the trap that of many Uchiha before him had fallen into.

"Why?" Was all Sasuke could manage to voice.

"Sasuke-kun, sometimes even the mightiest of trees gets a limb that becomes infected and parasitic. To prevent the spread of infection and the corruption of the tree, it is best to sacrifice that limb... even if it once had a great purpose to the tree."

Before Sasuke could ask anything further Itachi had left to avoid the ANBU officers he knew would be coming to his location. Without further commotion he turned his back and would not be seen by any one that would recognise him for many years to come.

**FLASHBACK END**

There was a public memorial for the clan, many turned up.

Since that day many had started fawning over Sasuke. It wasn't just the fangirls any more either, it was the village adults as well. Frankly it made him sick to see them put him on a pedestal while there were so many in his clan members that had lost loved ones, yet assistance was not offered to them. Why? The connection was simple, because he was the one remaining person that could attain the Sharingan as well as produce an heir that was capable of receiving it as well.

Sasuke separated himself from those that fawned over him and focused on his training, surrounding himself with those that he knew would not give him an inch through their training time. There was a surprisingly large number of them, all of them from his class in the ninja academy.

Over time many of these people had supported him while he got over his grief.

Naruto and Kiba had taken to playing pranks over the years, the ultimate was when Naruto used a variation of the henge. His own Oiroke no Jutsu transforms into a very very sexy female with the right dimensions. The sexy technique was used to knock both Mizuki and Iruka out from a giant nosebleeds when the their lessons or rants, whichever way, got boring. Of course Naruto had to run from both Ino and Sakura for degrading women everywhere. Later when questioned about how he developed the jutsu he retold about finding one of his brother's books and how he modeled the bodies after the ones seen in that, then adding some feminine grace to his face before completing the jutsu.

Others simply helped him train instead of trying to find idiotic ways to make him laugh as Sasuke seemed most peace when training, perhaps because it was one of the good memories that he had with this brother.

He understood Itachi. After a few of their training sessions, he began to see what Itachi saw. How disgusting the Uchiha had become all because of power. Now he was going to fight for something else. What? He did not have an answer to yet.

Now his strength and hard work had brought him recognition. Not the feeble attempts at making him king of the world but true recognition from his peers. Now he was part of the greatest class. One that would produce shinobi that surpassed the Legendary Sannin, the previous Ino-shika-Cho, the Yondaime Hokage and probably Madara Uchiha.

He was part of Konoha.

**Five years later**

It was the night before the Academy Graduation Exam. Everyone was at home resting for the exam... well nearly every one. Naruto Uzumaki was at home panicking because he still could not do the bunshin jutsu. He was 12 now, and his big brother had explained to him that he simply had too much chakra to release such a small amount without there being any wastage. This didn't stop him. It was the thing that so many of his friends admired about him, he never gave up and he never stopped trying. Kakashi watched his little brother struggle for the umpteenth time. He couldn't help but pity the boy. He had kept his promise to the Hokage from all those years ago, but it was time that he broke that promise in order to help a little by teaching a high level jutsu.

"Naruto-kun, come here. I have something that will help you with the bunshin." Naruto wanting any advantage he could get quickly moved from his place in the training area of their backyard to where Kakashi was standing.

"This strictly speaking is not help with the bunshin, but a replacement technique seeing as you can't use it." Naruto grinned, Kakashi; seeing the imminent explosion of joy quickly cut through his thoughts.

"Wait. There is a condition to me teaching you this. It is that you must never teach this to any of your friends. The jutsu is classified as a kinjutsu for a reason. The chakra it takes for you to use the jutsu is enormous, if your friends tried, they could potentially end up dead. This is only safe for you to use because of your high reserves."

Naruto's eyes widened considerably, the gravity of what his older brother was saying sinking in.

"The jutsu is the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Kakashi demonstrated the hand sign slowly, though unlike all those years ago he could do it with some speed and still trust that Naruto would see them.

Naruto resumed his place in the field and performed the jutsu. Immediately 5 clones popped up. It was unheard of, a boy not even a genin getting a jounin technique on the first try.

"Out of interest, how much chakra did you try to use." Kakashi asked trying to get a feel for Naruto's chakra level.

"Oh, only about the same amount that I use for 2 bunshin." It was Kakashi's turn to go wide-eyed. He has that much chakra. If he couldn't do the water walking and tree walking exercise Kakashi would have said Naruto had the worst chakra control in history.

'I think I get it now. He opens the gate to his chakra and then closes it to the level he needs it, which is why he can do the water walking and tree climbing. But when he opens it for the bunshin, the bit that escapes is already too much for that jutsu. It just means we are going to have to get him to control how rapidly he opens the gate to his chakra.' Kakashi had gained an understanding on his little brother's chakra control, level and usage, just by teaching him one jutsu.

Naruto, feeling content that he could now pass practiced the jutsu a couple of times before he went to bed waiting for tomorrow to come.

-0-

The following day found Naruto and his class mates in the ninja academy each waiting for their chance to prove themselves worthy of being a genin of Konoha.

Iruka and Mizuki walked in through the door. Iruka was the one to address for the last time as a class.

"All of you listen. The road has been long and many of us have had to put up with our share of trials before getting to this point. In just a few moments you will all be administered your genin tests. If you do pass you will be awarded your hitai-ate." This caused a stir amongst all the students.

"If Shino Aburame would come forward with me and Ami would go with Mizuki then we will get the testing underway." At this Naruto's head along with Sasuke and Ino's head all slammed on the desk multiple times.

"What in the hell do you three think you're doing?" Sakura asked puzzled by their behaviour.

The three looked at each other before Sasuke spoke for them all.

"The test is in alphabetical order."

After an hour or so there were only 2 people left in the room; Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke had let Ino go before him with Mizuki. Iruka came out not long after, so no words could be exchanged between the two. Naruto was left on his own until Mizuki came out to test him. Upon seeing the only examinee left a very vindictive smile came across Mizuki's face, how he was going to enjoy making the demon brat fail.

"Right then Naruto, the rules are simple. You need an average of 70% to pass. Failure in any one area will automatically disqualify you from the exam. Please demonstrate throwing accuracy with these 10 kunai. A bull's eye is work 10 marks, the perfect score is 100. Naruto looked around and saw marks from misthrown kunai to the left right, above and on the roof around the target. Hell, there were even some behind the wooden target. Scoring a perfect 100 Naruto, didn't even worry about that art of the test. The next part consisted of a taijutsu battle where Naruto and Mizuki would battle.

"Rules: you may not hide for the duration of the match, you must either be present to attack or defend, any taijutsu style is allowed. The match duration is 2 minutes or if you can land a blow on me. Full marks will be awarded to those that can either last the 2 minutes or land a hit. Naruto had started out with grand ideas of ending the match by landing a hit, but soon found that Mizuki was far too good an opponent, so he settled for seeing the timer out.

"Finally we test your capability of doing the three academy jutsu. They can be performed in any order. A simple demonstrated or not demonstrated is all that is awarded in this section."

Naruto used the kawarimi on a nearby book, getting ticked off as demonstrated, next was henge, he transformed into a replica of his older brother, complete with his book and everything.

The next one was the kicker, he was sure of it.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu." Naruto cried out, shocking Mizuki that he knew such a high level jutsu. Mizuki still grinned.

"Naruto, I asked you to perform the bunshin not the kage bunshin. Please demonstrate the correct jutsu."

"But I can't do the jutsu. Why should it matter any way? I performed a higher level jutsu." He argued his point knowing full well that perfect scores in other rounds would not make up for a zero in the final one.

"Well, then you fail." The words seemed like a slap across the face to Naruto. He left the room almost in tears.

-0-

Sitting on the swing, Naruto stared into space until a shadow blocked his light.

"Listen, I know it seems I was hard on you but that is only because I must officially say whether or not you can do the required jutsu and pass." Naruto simply nodded mutely in understanding

"That being said there is an unofficial test that you may take in order to pass the exam, almost like a supplementary." Naruto looked up, hardly daring to believe his luck.

"This last test is a test of stealth. You must obtain the giant scroll kept hidden in the Hokage's office. Success is deemed as getting to the forest undetected, failure is getting caught any time before I see you with the scroll." It was too good to be true. A stealth mission. He had been trained in this for the last 8 years; this was something he could do. He went home to prepare, putting on the set of dark clothes that he rarely ever wore. Orange may have been his favourite colour, but there was a time and a place for everything and a jumpsuit that screamed 'I KNOW YOU CAN SEE ME!' was not well suited for a stealth mission.

**2 Hours later**

The entire shinobi population remaining in Konoha was looking for Naruto Uzumaki. He had played many pranks in the past, but this was unspeakable. He had stolen the scroll containing the techniques of the past Hokages as well as many other village secret jutsu.

In the forest on the eastern side of Konoha, Naruto could be found reading through this scroll while he waited for Mizuki-sensei. The forest around him looked like it has been torn asunder by mini-explosions; apparently he had been practicing one of the jutsu. When he first started reading he was ecstatic at all the high level jutsu that he had found in the scroll. His brain was only half working at the time.

"Wow, look at all the jutsu. This scroll must be seriously valuable. Wait, aniki said to ask questions, they may even be able to save your life. So then why would

Mizuki-sensei want me to steal a highly valuable scroll for the sake of a test? Isn't it more likely that they would use a dummy scroll instead?... OH SHIT! This must be a set up of some sort."

"Correct you are, Naruto."Mizuki exclaimed from the trees.

"Do you know how badly I've wanted to watch you fail? Yet every time, you would just scrape through a mark on your academic tests that kept you in the academy. Now, I finally have a chance at true power and in the process I'm going to kill you; the bane of Konoha. Since I'm in a particularly good mood and you are going to die, would you like to know why it is that you were hated, beaten when you were younger?"

"Stop right there Mizuki, that is forbidden information. At the moment your charges rest at manipulating a pre-genin into crime. Mention that secret and it will be over, I will kill you where you stand."

"Ha, like you ever could Iruka" before Mizuki could even react, Iruka had planted a fist in his gut. Putting some distance between the two, Iruka jumped back to his original position some 20 meters right of Naruto. Based on the speed that Iruka had, Mizuki had decided he was outmatched. His only hope was to create a distraction and escape. He still was intent on harming Naruto as much as humanly possible. It started with the giant shuriken that he threw.

Iruka looked on in horror as the shuriken sped towards Naruto who was dumbstruck by the night's events. It had too much power and weight to be stopped in a catch, the only other option was to block it with his body.

Naruto came to his senses when he saw Iruka flash in front of him, only to cough blood into his face. Mizuki started talking.

"Well, as I was saying, would you like to know why the villagers hate you?" Not even giving him time to respond, Mizuki continued his torture.

"Do you remember the lesson that we had on the Yondaime Hokage? Well it was a lie what we told you that day. The fox could never be defeated, it was too powerful. He opted to seal it instead, into a human baby. That baby I was you. You bear the scorn of the village because you are the thing that killed so many people all those years ago." Something that had been long forgotten rushed to the front of Naruto's mind a dream or nightmare, where a giant fox was rampaging inside a cage, looking right through him as though he wasn't there. Was that not a dream, was that somehow real?

"Naruto! Don't listen! You are not the fox! You are Naruto Uzumaki and I'm telling you to take that scroll back to the Hokage. I can't fight with you here, there is too much worry that you'll get hurt in the process.

Naruto fled the scene trails of hot tears escaping his eyes. While running away he had the strongest urge to return, it was something he couldn't describe. Then in a moment of clarity something rang through his head, it was Kakashi's voice

"Those who abandon the mission are scum, those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum."

His voice rang through his head over and over like it was his conscious. In an instant his mind was made up. He had returned to the clearing to see Iruka not faring so well. After he had take the shuriken to the back he had slowed down considerably to a level Mizuki could handle.

Mizuki sneered as he saw Naruto approach again

"Drawn to a battle Naruto, perhaps that is blood lust of the fox within you."

"Say what you will about me, but you will die here for targeting me, then nearly killing my sensei." Mizuki was laughing what could the boy do, he didn't even know how to do the bunshin.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu." In his early celebrations and mocking of the pre-genin he had completely forgotten about that technique. He was now surrounded by a clearing filled with what had to be at least 1000 Naruto clones. The clones made short work of Mizuki. As Naruto was turning to go to Iruka, Mizuki's body started to emit a vile chakra, while a black flame pattern crept up the side of his neck and across the rest of his body. He raised himself off the ground and launched himself not at Naruto, but at Iruka. Iruka was sent crashing through the undergrowth from a particularly vicious knock to the head. Something inside Naruto just snapped. He couldn't tell what was happening, but he could feel power flowing through his body. His nails seemed longer, almost like claws. His teeth had lengthened and the whisker marks on the side of his face were now more pronounced than ever.

Naruto launched at Mizuki, a clawed hand extended, catching him across the throat. Blood sprayed out of the both the carotid and the jugular and across the field, there was no chance of recovery. Dully Naruto thought to himself

'I... I... I killed him.' the full impact of what he had just done had not hit him yet.

Then his body felt drained, he collapsed to his knees knowing noting of the real world after that.

**MINDSCAPE**

Naruto opened his eyes to see a dark passage. Immediately, he remembered this passage way from his last visit here. It looked different now. Last time is was more like a sewer, this time it was more like a grimy castle wall, there was less water and everything looked to be in a better state of repair.

He followed the corridor around again to find the same cage with the piece of paper presenting the kanji for 'seal' on it. The fox was still in there, though this time it was not on a rampage, it simply looked exhausted. It opened its eyes and spoke in a voice that while loud had a distinctly female ring to it.

"Greetings, Naruto. My name is Rei and..."

"Don't you mean Kyuubi no Youko?" Naruto interrupted.

"That is my title, not my name. As much as I would like to do this now, I am truly exhausted; I would just like to sleep. I will bring you back here when I am fully rested." Naruto wasn't given a choice as Rei laid her head down onto her paws to sleep.

**Three days later**

Naruto was at Ichiraku's with both Kakashi and Iruka. They were talking over a bowl of ramen each.

"Before I leave Naruto, I didn't get the chance to give you this the other day. Congratulations on passing your genin exam." Iruka proudly stated as he placed the hitai-ate over Naruto's forehead.

All Naruto could do was grin widely as he stared at the back of Iruka's retreating form. "Congratulations Naruto-kun!"

Naruto turned to Kakashi then felt as though he had something to tell his elder brother.

"Aniki, do you remember when you asked me all those years ago what my dream for the future was?" this had Kakashi interested, so he stopped eating and turned to face his little brother.

"I had quite alot of time to think about it in the hospital for the last three days. Well I've decided, that my goal is to get everyone to see me as Naruto Uzumaki, not the nine-tailed demon fox." He uttered the last part in a very lower voice so that no one would hear.

"I want them to view me as a human and more than anything for them to trust me and respect me as a shinobi. The job with the ultimate amount of trust and respect around here is kage. So I'm gonna aim to be Hokage someday."

Kakashi smiled at hearing the dram, a very worthy one indeed.

'Naruto, I never thought you'll find out the truth in such a way. Someday you will achieve your dream, and I'll be there to help you.' Kakashi thought to himself.

Later that night

**MINDSCAPE**

He was drawn into his mindscape for the third time in his life. He wasted no time in getting to Rei's sealed area.

"It's nice to finally meet you at last. Now that I'm full of energy I feel like actually having a conversation. The first time didn't count, I was too tired to talk."

"The first time? Kyuubi, that was the second time I've seen you." Naruto corrected.

"When else have you seen me?" she asked, wondering why she didn't remember the first encounter

"It was when I was little. You looked like you were being driven insane. You stared at the spot I was standing in, only you looked like you were looking right through me."

"I…I'm sorry you had to see me in such a state."

"I don't care! Why the hell did you attack Konoha! Why did you cause so much pain! Why did you make so many people hate me! WHY!" Naruto screamed with rage and tears on the edges of his eyes.

"I didn't choose to attack Konoha, I was forced." Kyuubi speaking with a hint of remorse

"Forced, how? What could possibly be powerful enough to control a Bijuu?" was the stunned Naruto's response.

"The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, only one man possess it, Madara Uchiha. He put me in a state of uncontrolled bloodlust only demons could have. Your out burst using some of my power must have triggered an involuntary response, freeing me from whatever technique he used in the first place."

Naruto finally calming down realised his mistake. He didn't know the answers yet he was putting the blame on Kyuu.. No, Rei. "I... I'm sorry."

"But why did you show up? What I've read says demons stay in another realm. What made you come here in the first place? If you hadn't come none of this would have happened"

This was a question that Rei really would rather not have answered.

"I was sent here by Kami himself …to be your companion over the ages." She responded carefully

"My companion…over the ages. What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto asked as his anger started to boil over again. 'she's toying with me'

There was no easy way to put this. She'd have to say it our right.

"I am an immortal. So are you, Naruto. I was sent as an immortal being, so you would have at least one friend to always be there with you, when all your mortal friends have died."

-0-

**A/N: **Another chapter done! Hope you enjoyed this one. Sorry about the lot of time skips. They were no ways to avoid them without compromising the story.

The next chapter has an inconsistency with the first chapter. I wonder if anyone will pick it up ...

Chapter four is the team placements and the beginning of the wave arc. It might be... surprising to read too. Yeah, a few surprises in there.

Again thanks for the favs and follows.

Oh some of you might be wondering what Naruto learnt from the Forbidden Scroll. How about I keep that a secret for now. :)

As always review only if you feel like it. I would suggest it if you want this story to be better than others you read.

-kamizon

One more thing, do you like Omake? :)


	4. Work Hard, Fight Hard

**A/N: **Welcome to another chapter of The Eternal Chimera. Not too much to say

I got a couple of reviews last time. My comments: Dragonskyt, This isn't a Fire Emblem crossover. Like its stated in the A/N of Chapter 1, only ideas are going to be borrowed. Also the inconsistence i mentioned earlier isn't the immortality. Clue; it has something to do with the arrival of Kyuubi in chapter 1. And to Toby860, don't worry about Naruto being a gods-champion, 'cause he's not going going to be one. Though I admit it seems so.

Finally, remember, there is a stuff up in the fic. Spot it, put it in the review and you'll get a special mention. If no one gets it I'll post what it was in chapter four. Spot one that I'm not talking about and I'll cry. Just to help you(final clue), if you go past the mindscape scene then you've already gone past the muck up.

Thanks for the encouragements the favorites and follows. Appreciated!

Now, on with the story.

*********************************************************************f

Chapter 4: Work Hard, Fight hard

**[MINDSCAPE]**

She had dropped the bomb. Rei had told Naruto why she came to his world in the first place. She was to be his companion for the eternity that he lived.

Naruto was not sure what to feel. He had just been told that he was immortal. What should he feel? Joy? Joy at being able to never die? Fear? The fear of being alone after all his friends had gone. Pissed? The anger boiling deep inside for having to know his fate which he would have gladly not even known.

"How?" Was all he could weakly ask.

"I…I don't know. All I know is that you are immortal."

"You're lying." The statement aroused Rei's curiosity.

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Confused as to what possible logic he could have used to make such a statement.

"You said that you were to be my companion as I was immortal. If that were true, you would have only appeared on the exact day of my birth, but you were around for weeks before I was even born. Therefore, if I was not alive there would be no way for you to tell whether I was immortal."

"That is incorrect. I appeared on the day of your hastening." she said as though it explained everything.

"Hastening? What do you mean?" He asked not understanding her explanation in the least.

"The time of hastening is when the soul of the baby enters the body. This happens on the last day of the 26th week of gestation. It is for this reason that it is considered a crime to kill an unborn baby beyond this point. You are effectively committing murder, and nothing can be more innocent that an unborn child. From this point on the baby is considered truly alive as it houses a soul and this is how we were able to tell that you were immortal."

"Well, what happens now?" Naruto asked, not willing to show defeat.

"Nothing. You simply live your life however way you want to. You can take risks that most would never consider, though using caution is always advised." Rei stated bluntly..

"Caution? What for? I'm invincible." Naruto spoke with sarcasm evident in his tone..

"You are not invincible; only immortal. As such you can still be defeated or have you so swiftly forgotten what the Yondaime did to me?"Rei responded with her voice taking a sharper tone.

"Yeah you got your ass handed out to you." Naruto replied, trying to make the best out of Kyuubi's growing anger.

"Listen here boy, I've lived countless years and seen many things whilst doing unimaginable things in conjunction with proving my existence. I'm sure your Yondaime was by far the strongest, but if I was in the right state of mind, I'm not particularly sure you and your beloved friends would be alive to see this day!"

Long pause...

"Naruto, we have discussed everything that I needed to discuss with you. Even if you have further questions, I don't feel as though I would have answers for you. " With that Rei turned, with her tails swishing in clearly controlled anger.

**REAL WORLD**

Naruto woke up and looked around his bedroom rather groggily.

"Was that all a dream?" he asked himself.

'It was no dream Naruto. Every bit of it happened.'

"Kyuubi, how is it I'm able to hear you? I'm not by the seal anymore." Naruto asked a little shocked.

'We have always shared a mental connection, though I was never in any state to use it. At the moment it is rather weak. I'm actually shouting and your voice is rather faint. With time the connection will grow stronger and we will be able to hear each other quite clearly and you won't have to actually talk to for me to hear, only think of what you are saying. All this will happen in time.' She explained without much enthusiasm

"Should I tell aniki?" he asked

'I wouldn't, not until at least there is a need to tell him. There isn't any good that could come by informing him.' she advised.

"Sure... Rei?"

'What do you want now?!'

"I'm sorry for being a jerk earlier on." All with a solemn voice

No response...

-0-

Kakashi was already out. Naruto had assumed that he had gone to his day job as a Hokage's guard. It was something that always made Naruto laugh; the most powerful ninja in the village hiring guards. More like he used the ANBU that guarded him as a personal messenger service.

Not bothering to check the time, Naruto left the house to head for the academy. He still tried to beat his best time every time he went there as Kakashi had suggested all those years ago. He had started out at 15 minutes to get there on his first day. It was now his goal to break the 5 minute mark, something that Kakashi could do without even thinking.

He went to his regular class room. To find that nearly the whole class had passed the exam. He cast a look around the room; there had to be at least 30 people in the room. He walked over to his gang; all eleven other members were already present.

Sasuke, Shikamaru, Chouji and Kiba were all discussing the potential team compositions. Shino and Sai, another boy who had joined their group over the years, were not contributing to the discussion; opting to listen instead. Hinata, Ino and Sakura were discussing potential jounin sensei appointments. Ami and Misao another two that joined the gang after the Sasuke changed his attitude and became more amenable to approach, opted to only listen as they didn't have anything to contribute. Both came from civilian families, Sakura did as well, but there was something to be said for having you mother as head of the civilian council.

Naruto greeted them all with a simple "Good morning." Before choosing to listen to snippets of both conversations not really feeling like joining in this morning, he had a lot to think about. He wasn't given long to contemplate anything as his friends broke into his thoughts, it was Hinata that had spoken first.

"Naruto-kun, is it true, you stole the forbidden scroll a few days ago? Father came home and mentioned that you were not far from being executed for such a crime."

"Well, it is true, but I only did it because Mizuki-teme failed me on the exam."

One thought went simultaneously through all of his friends' heads

'Bunshin no jutsu'

"He told me that it was an extra exam and that it was a stealth test. Well I took it, Kakashi-oniisan trained me in stealth from a very young age, it should have been a piece of cake. Well it was actually, I got the scroll really easily. When I was supposed to meet Mizuki he tried to kill me and take the scroll. Iruka sensei took the hit for me... He was in no condition to fight so when I saw him injured I snapped. How I knocked the stuffing out of him."

Naruto purposefully left out the part where he ran away. Mentioning that would bring questions about why he ran away; he didn't feel like telling his friends about the Kyuubi being sealed within him neither did he want to to be seen as a coward.

"How did you beat Mizuki-san? He is a chuunin." This was Shino now adding his thoughts.

"Simple; a new jutsu." Naruto answered "Here watch. Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed while forming a cross shaped seal with his hands. Immediately five clones of Naruto popped up in a cloud of smoke. His friends were amazed when they each picked up an item in the class room just to emphasise that they could interact with their environment. Their amazement was short lived as the clones were dispelled when Iruka walked in.

"Right, I don't have much to say; simply good luck on embarking on your ninja pathway. Now for the team announcements."

This was the part that everyone was waiting for. Finding out who their teammates were and who was going to be their jounin sensei

"Team one will be Sai , Ino Yamanaka and Ami Tanaka, jounin sensei will be Anko Mitarashi. Team two will be…"

The group decided to let their attention wander until they heard another name that they actually cared about. A short while later they had their interest piqued as the heard

"Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno will make up team seven with Kakashi Hatake as jounin sensei. Team eight will be Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuuga and Shino Aburame, jounin sensei is Kurenai Yuuhi. Team nine is still in circulation from last year, so team 10 will be Shikamaru Nara, Misao Makimachi and Chouji Akimichi, jounin sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi."

As the jounin senseis' names were announced they entered the room either by sunshin, or by the conventional methods, like through the window or dropping from the roof. There was only one oddball that decided to use the door. They counted only 8 jounin sensei; one was missing. Naruto automatically knew what to expect when his brother was announced as his sensei.

The others got up and went off with their sensei, presumably to get to know not only their sensei but their teammates as well.

Well, we've got quite a bit of time to kill before our sensei shows up. What are we going to do?" Naruto asked, so they wouldn't be bored stiff for 2 hours.

"How do you know that?" Sakura asked, confused that he could be so sure of a person before he had met them.

"I live with Kakashi. If it's not a better ranked mission or a meeting with the Hokage he shows up two hours late. So what are we going to do while we kill time?"

"May as well train; nothing too hard. Perhaps chakra control exercises, or may be light sparing." It was Sasuke to suggest the pass time.

"Light sparring sounds good to me. I hate chakra control exercise." Naruto cast his vote.

"I'm fine with whatever, so long as we pass the time in a way better than sitting around." Sakura put in her two cents worth.

They took to the academy school yard and held something of a round robin where each person fought the other two at least once and tried to fight the two others in a two on one match as well. They continued for close to three hours until Kakashi shunshined into the arena and called them to sit by the swing in the yard. Kakashi sat on the swing while his three students lazed around on the floor around him, tired from their sparring.

"Well, it's good to see you can use your time productively even when not being instructed to do so, but why don't I get straight to the point. My name is Kakashi Hatake; I am to be your jounin sensei. Why don't you introduce yourselves?" Kakashi greeted them.

"It is only polite that we know something about you before we go spilling anything about ourselves, especially when you asked." It was Sakura that made the point. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to introduce herself, but found a better way of saying 'I don't understand whatever it it is you are saying.'.

"Alright then, as you know, my name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes include…reading and many other things," he said with a slight pause in his sentence "I don't really have any dislikes, no real hobbies to mention and my dream for the future, well that's rather personal." By the end of the introduction Sasuke and Sakura hadn't really learned that much, only Naruto had some inkling about their sensei, and even that wasn't a great deal.

Sakura volunteered to go next. "My name is Sakura Haruno. I like reading, training and getting stronger. I dislike people who underestimate me. Hobbies include training and reading. I…don't really have a dream for the future." Sakura faltered slightly at the end.

"Don't worry, with time you may develop one, if you share it with us in the future, we will try to help you along your path." Kakashi counselled. For a laid back guy he really did come out with some pearls of wisdom once in a while.

Sasuke went next to fill in the silence that followed Kakashi's minor speech.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I like training learning new jutsu and tomatoes." Nobody was expecting that from one of the most stoic people that they knew and proceeded to face fault. "My dislikes include ass kissers and fangirls. My dream for the future, well I have two. The first is to resurrect the Uchiha clan. The second is to work hard, so that when I meet my brother, I can look him the eye as an equal, not the one desperately trying to catch up."

Kakashi nodded. 'Admirable aspirations' Kakashi thought to himself. He had expected Sasuke to start talking about avenging the Uchiha clan, but instead he wants to live up to his brother's name, with the attitude that he currently has, anything is possible.

Next came Naruto, the one Kakashi knew the most about, yet he let him do the introduction anyway; this was as much for the teammates as it was for the jounin sensei.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes include ramen, training and my older brother," Kakashi smiled at this "my dislikes include the time it takes for ramen to cook, and my older brother's tardy ways. My dream for the future is to be Hokage. To let people acknowledge my strength.,

'Right so I have a potentially powerful kunoichi that is yet undirected, a boy that wants to resurrect his lost clan and be seen equal to the greatest of his clan and one who wants to be recognised as the strongest in the village. This team has massive potential.' Kakashi made his assessment in his head, unknowingly smiling at the team make up.

"Well now the introductions are over I have a few notices. The first is that I want us all to meet at training ground seven for a survival test. Before you ask you don't need to bring any supplies other than all your shuriken and kunai, after all it is me you are going to be fighting and running from." Kakashi watched with a sick grin as all of his students' faces twisted in horror; particularly Naruto as he knew just how powerful Kakashi was.

"Well, if you don't have any questions then I'm going to make myself scarce. And by the way, skip breakfast. You'll only throw up." He promptly shunshined out of there before another word was said. Sasuke and Sakura were about to leave when Naruto called out to them.

"Hold on you two. I just want to tell you that you should eat something tomorrow." Naruto advised.

"He said not to eat anything." Sakura deadpanned.

"Think of that more like advice. Besides, I know how powerful he is. Fighting against him is asking for trouble, doing so on an empty stomach is suicide."

With his message passed on Naruto left the academy, Sasuke and Sakura following suit shortly after.

-0-

Upon arriving home Naruto found Kakashi making dinner, ramen for a change; this always put Naruto in a good mood.

Naruto approached his older brother and carefully asked his question.

"Aniki, today's introductions reminded me of something you told me many years ago. You said that when I knew my dream for the future you would tell me yours. Will you still tell me?"

Kakashi looked at his little brother and realised that he had indeed said that all those years ago in the hospital.

"My dream? There isn't much to it, though you will understand it a lot better later on. My dream is to convince several people to return." Kakashi confided

"Your right I don't get it. Maybe some day I will. Maybe when I meet those people." Naruto replied. He didn't want to think about it for too long, after all he had to get ready for tomorrow, surviving his older brother will be no easy task.

The next morning Kakashi was awoken by a very loud shout

"YOSH! KAKSHI WAKE UP! NARUTO TOLD ME YOU ARE PLANNING ON BEING LATE FOR YOU FIRST TEAM MEETING! THIS IS MOST UNYOUTHFUL!"

There beside Gai Maito was his young protege and carbon copy, Rock Lee. In an equally loud voice he screamed

"GAI-SENSEI IS RIGHT! YOU ARE BEING MOST UNYOUTHFUL! IT IS VERY UNYOUTHFUL TO ACT IN AN UNYOUTHFUL WAY!"

'That made no sense.' Kakashi thought groggily. 'Oh, who cares, it's only Naruto anyway.'

Through the directions of a certain aging Hokage, Naruto had discovered that to get Kakashi to be on time anything all you had to do was henge into Maito Gai or his student and Kakashi would be where you want him in a flash.

"Kai!" Kakashi exclaimed. The image of Gai and Lee did not disappear. "KAI!" he tried again only for the same result.

"YOSH! KAKASHI STOP WITH THIS UNYOUTHFUL BEHAVIOUR! YOU MUST GET TO YOU TEAM IMMEDIATELY!" Gai boomed at top volume.

The cogs were turning in Kakashi's head rather slowly.

'If the release technique doesn't work then it must either be a really powerful henge or genjutsu, that or…'

"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGG GGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH‼‼‼‼‼" Kakashi let out a scream of pure terror that could be heard all over Konoha.

In a certain training ground a blond laughed at the sound of the scream, while his two teammates just gave him a funny look, not getting the joke.

'The real Gai and Lee in my house, in my room, while I was asleep, defiling my humble abode with speeches of 'youthfulness'.' Kakashi thought quite wildly to himself.

He bolted, got dressed as fast as he could and shunshined to training grounds; Gai had not seen his 'eternal rival' move so fast in all his time knowing him.

"See Lee, that is the power of YOUTH!" Good-guy pose.

-0-

At the training grounds Kakashi suddenly appeared in a swirl of leaves. He gained his bearings and found Naruto. Pointing an accusing finger at the blond he practically screamed.

"You…you're evil. How could you to such a thing, to your beloved aniki of all people. I wouldn't even wish that on my worst enemy."

"Well maybe you'll learn to be on time from now on." Naruto replied with a very large grin about his face.

"You will get yours don't you worry Naruto." Kakashi threatened almost maniacally.

"Well now that we are all here I have a test, this is to see if you will remain genin, or whether you will attend the academy for an entire year more before becoming genin. The test is simple to pass; all you have to do is obtain one of the bells from my waist." To make them realise exactly what bells he was talking about; he jingled them to draw their attention to two tiny bells attached to a string.

"You have until lunch time to acquire them. Begin." Upon his command they all disappeared into the dense woodland nearby.

"Well they can all hide quite well. Naruto should have no problem, but the other two surprised me." Kakashi thought out aloud.

Elsewhere, Naruto was sitting with Sasuke and Sakura.

"We have to take him as a trio; it's the only way we are going to get those bells of his waist." He surmised.

"What about the one who will go back when we get the bells? There are only two." Sakura asked, worried about having to go through the academy again.

Sasuke spoke up this time .

"Think about what he said. Never once did he address us individually. He only said that to pass we had to obtain one of the bells on his waist. It's like a guarding mission, just in reverse. Three people working together to protect a client. One person might take on any assailants while the other two are hanging back to take any that get through the initial blockade. Which one is the one completing the mission objective? All of them, even though they have different roles. Well, at least that's how I hope that he is seeing it."

Naruto nodded in understanding.

"Well, I have a plan."

...

It was hours later. Only 30 minutes before the end of the test and the trio had yet to make a move, all of a sudden Kakashi sensed some movement and saw Naruto clones en masse.

'Well this is my chance to get even.' Kakashi thought to himself as he watched the mass of orange approach. He tore into the mass dispelling clones left right and front. As he was fighting the real Naruto snuck up behind him and latched on, holding Kakashi in place.

"Like you always said sensei, never let your opponent get behind you." Naruto advised thinking about all the advice Kakashi had ever given him.

"You know what? You're absolutely right Naruto, but you would do well to listen to your own advice." Kakashi replied before poofing out of existence.

The real Kakashi was behind Naruto already with the tiger hand seal formed. Instead of announcing a katon jutsu as Sasuke and Sakura expected he proceeded to jam his fingers up Naruto's ass, sending him flying. While wincing in pain for their blond teammate's misfortune a genjutsu was laid by Sakura.

It simply showed Sasuke attempting to engage Kakashi in a taijutsu match. They figured it would be only moments before Kakashi worked out that it was a genjutsu. It was in this time that Sasuke would rush out as well, in attempt to steal the bells while his sensei was still caught in the jutsu. A rather simple plan, then again some of the simplest plans often worked the best. The only hitch was the timing necessary on both Sakura and Sasuke's part. If Sakura laid the genjutsu too early it would be noticed and swiftly dispelled. Too late and Sasuke would run out and gain the full attention of their sensei, thus wasting Naruto's noble sacrifice.

Should Sasuke run out before the genjutsu was placed then he would have to deal with a very powerful ninja with his full concentration on him, too late and he would miss the narrow window of opportunity that Sakura had given him.

Both parts were timed perfectly; the only problem was that he bells were so small that there was nothing to grab onto while he was fighting a genjutsu. Sasuke made his decision; he grabbed not only the bells but a handful of Kakashi's ANBU style pants and indiscriminately ripping the both of them away. Without part of his waist band holding up his pants the rest of his kit fell to the ground revealing yellow floral designed boxers. Sakura turned red; Sasuke was dumbstruck, though nobody could work out if it was because of his sensei's choice in underwear or simply because he was faced with a pants-off Kakashi. Naruto for his part was trying not to laugh.

As if on cue, Kakashi dispelled the genjutsu. He was left dumb as he noticed where the attention was.

"Well that's what you get for sticking your fingers up my ass." He taunted his older brother.

A moment later the time went off, signaling that midday had arrived and that the test was officially over. Kakashi gathered his students for some feedback.

"Sloppy yet very good all of you, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke you pass. But first, gimme a very good reason on why I should let you pass."

All three looked utterly perplexed. Nobody had spoken yet.

"What? You think that I didn't know where you were from the start? You guys may be talented for genin, but there is a reason I am a jounin.

Sakura was the first to catch on.

"Wait, if you knew what we were going to do you could have stopped it and we would have never got the bells."

"It was never about the bells Sakura." Kakashi informed. "That was merely a test to see if you could work as a team. Your teammates are your friends and your allies; you are their life line, as they are yours. To quote a friend 'Those who abandon the mission are trash. But those who abandon their comrades are lower than trash.' This is something that I take very seriously. No matter what, I won't ever abandon you. Now that we have done our exam we have to report to the Hokage. He has an announcement regarding all teams."

Just as they were walking away Naruto stopped to ponder something.

"Kakashi-sensei, you remember how you promised to teach me the super awesome, ultra flashy jutsu? Well, there is no such thing is there?"

Kakashi looked at Naruto wondering what the hell he was on about before realising,

'He means that bogus jutsu name I made up to calm him down?'

Kakashi's face blew up trying to contain his laughter. He failed spectacularly. He was on all fours banging the ground in laughter. After a short explanation to Sasuke and Sakura they too were rolling around on the floor, holding their sides.

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled at them "I was like four years old. How was I to know?" Seeing that he wasn't going to get through to them he walked off in a huff.

-0-

A short while later we find not only team 7 but teams one, eight and ten at the Hokage's office waiting for the announcement about their teams. Seeing that the last of the teams had arrived Sarutobi began.

"First of all, congratulations on passing your jounin instructors' exams and becoming official genin of Konoha. Now the announcement that will affect you all is as follows. The teams of 1, 7, 8, ad 10 are here by disbanded until further notice."

There was an outcry from all in the room. They were comfortable with their teams and wanted nothing changed.

Sarutobi held up a wizened hand to stem the complaints. Despite the situation all noise stopped, he was the kage for a reason.

"In a manner of speaking this matter was taken out of my hands. The civilian council as well as the village elders requested, or more precisely, demanded special training be given to a member of your number."

"Me." Sasuke voiced. It wasn't a question it was a statement. He knew how so many worshiped him and how he hated it. It was one of the things that Itachi had hated the most. Worship for belonging to the Uchiha clan, as if there was no greater honour.

"As such instead of giving only one of your member special training I have removed the teams to provide all of you with special training. Some will receive instruction in areas where others will not."

Naruto raised his voice this time,

"In other words you're not gonna waste time teaching us pointless things if we will never use it, or simply can't. Like me with genjutsu."

"That aside, there are many reasons for doing this. The first is to satisfy the demands of the council. If it were only the civilian council I could have ignored the request, but seeing as the recommendation comes from all three of the village's elders I don't have that luxury. The second reason for doing this is that you all maintain the bond that you have developed since your academy days. The teams I put you on may not necessarily be your permanent ones. You were just placed with people that I thought you would have the hardest time working with." Sarutobi eyed every one before realising that they were silent and waiting for him to continue.

"Well then, onto what you will be learning and from whom. You will all learn to develop the three academy basics of ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu. Only Naruto will be exempt from genjutsu because it is as he already said, he will never be able to use it. Ninjutsu will be taken by Kakashi Hatake, genjutsu will be taken by Kurenai Yuuhi and taijutsu will be run in conjunction with Maito Gai's genin cell. This prevents over specialisation and you will be able to deal with any kind of situation out in the field in the future."

Someone decided to interrupt the Hokage, wondering about the team placements, an interruption that he was glad for as he was quickly growing tired of talking for so long.

"Hokage-sama, will there be any changes to the teams?" Anko asked, wondering about the placement of Ino on her team instead of the traditional Ino-Shika-Cho team.

"Actually yes, Ino and Misao will be swapping teams. There were reasons that I had them on those teams in the first place, but they blew away any doubts I had by passing their genin exam." A simple nod from Anko told her leader that she understood and accepted the change in her team composition, when teams were actually active agin.

"This is only the basic training everybody will receive. Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Abrame and Kiba Inuzuka will receive training from Konoha's tracking unit. Misao Makimachi, Ami Tanaka and Sai seem to all have an attraction towards weapons usage so they will receive extra training in this area from Anko Mitarashi. The Ino-Shika-Cho team will receive training from their fathers as well as Asuma Sarutobi in team tactics and in information gathering."

Everyone looked excited by the prospect of learning such interesting thing from the given senseis. Sakura and Naruto looked a little disheartened at not having a specialty area in which to train in. Sarutobi noticed the look and would address it privately. He turned to look at Sasuke and gave him a choice.

"You are supposed to take all the areas with your classmates, but I'm going to let you pick what you will and will not do."

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, I will take all fields, except for the training with the Ino-Shika-Cho team, that training is specifically set up for them. My brother was never one weak in one area. If I truly want to compare to him, then I must have a strong basis in all areas. "

"Very well then. Now that you all understand what you will be doing, this is how I will work the first three days of each week will be dedicated to one of the three base disciplines; taijutsu, genjutsu or ninjutsu. The next day will be training for the Ino-Shika-Cho team and weapons training with Anko Mitarashi. The day after will be the tracking training for team 8. If you feel you want to look into another area of expertise, simply to build your knowledge then all you have to do is meet at the training ground in the morning with the specialty team."

Sarutobi paused to collect his thoughts.

"The fifth day will comprise of missions where you will randomly be assigned into groups to foster teamwork amongst all of you. The sixth day will be charka exercises. This will build control as well as your reserves. I should mention that all through the week you will be doing the most grueling work imaginable to build up your physical stamina. While Maito Gai cannot be instructing the whole time as he has his own genin team to tend to, he has been kind enough to provide us with a list of exercises that he has suggested to train your bodies to their peak. Lastly the seventh day is a day of rest, there will be no training as it is important to allow your bodies time to adjust and grow with your training regimen. If there are no questions everybody except for Naruto and Sakura are dismissed."

Everybody milled out of the office except for three; Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura. Kakashi opted to stay back as both of his students were being spoken to. The Hokage first turned to Sakura.

"Sakura, I was wondering if you would be interested in becoming a medical ninja. You certainly seem to have the chakra control and a head that could easily get around the inner workings of the human body."

"Well, I don't have a specialised area yet and if you think that it would be a good idea, then I'm more than happy to give it a try, Hokage-sama."

"Very well then report to the hospital tomorrow. By then I will have arranged for a sensei for you to learn from." Sensing the finality in his tone Sakura left, leaving only Naruto, Kakashi and the Hokage in the room.

"Well Naruto, it seems without genjutsu and a speciality you have some areas to cover. That is why I have arranged for you to learn a sword style with Gekko Hayate. He is a recently retired ANBU that I have arranged to teach you sword skills. And the final area to cover requires a test."

Reaching into his desk he drew out a small piece of paper.

"Naruto, this is chakra paper. It responds to your chakra element."

Seeing the confused look on Naruto's face he realised that a better explanation was in order.

"Chakra has an elemental affinity, sometimes multiple affinities. These elements are water, fire, wind, lightening and earth. When you channel chakra into this paper it will respond accordingly. Water and it will dampen, fire and it will burn, wind will cause it to split, it will crumple if it is lightening and it will crumble to dust if earth.

Curious, Naruto instantly grabbed the paper and channeled some chakra into it. The paper split very evenly before starting to burn. The split happened so forcefully it was ridiculous, but that paled in comparison to the burning. It started out as a smolder before the paper burst into a white flame, causing Sarutobi and Kakashi to go wide-eyed.

"Well it seems that you have a very high affinity for both wind and fire jutsu. It just so happens that Asuma is a wind user and I am a fire element user. We will teach you jutsu from the corresponding areas."

Now Naruto had his two areas to occupy himself while everybody did their own thing, he was more than happy. In fact he was ecstatic about learning from the Hokage himself. As Kakashi and Naruto left using the door Sarutobi looked at Naruto's retreating back and thought to himself.

'I know your letter told me that Naruto needed his letter by the time he was a genin, but I honestly don't think that he is ready for that. At least I'm providing him some decent training instead of your clan's techniques. Minato, Kushina; please forgive me. Naruto, I hope you will understand and not hate me for too long.'

And so it was that the group trained and trained. True to his word the genin nearly collapsed every day after their work outs. The work from Gai was ridiculous, added to that any one that trained with Anko nearly lost a limb from her training methods which were more easily likened to torture methods.

If anyone thought that Kakashi was going to be lazy in training them in ninjutsu they were in for a rude awakening. Those that thought Kurenai would take it easy on them due to her gentle and kind nature were also shocked at how much of a slave driver she could be. From either area of specialty many nearly ended up on the verge of chakra exhaustion. Naruto was the only one who could move after Kakashi's sessions.

Nobody survived Gai's taijutsu training methods. Even Naruto with his legendary stamina collapsed after such an intense workout. To their defence there was only one person on Gai's team that could handle that as well; Rock Lee.

Sakura applied herself very heavily to her studies in medical ninjutsu. It was staggering just how much she could remember after one session with her sensei in the area, Megumi Takani. In less than a week she had memorised what situation called for which jutsu and had learned the two most basic jutsu from Megumi. The first was Shosen no jutsu, used for healing cuts, bruises and most forms of injury. The second was Dokumeki no jutsu, used for extracting poisons. As Sarutobi had said, she had excellent chakra control which aided in learning the jutsu.

Naruto was worked to the bone be Gekko Hayate, Asuma and his father, the Hokage. Gekko did not teach Naruto anything specific, only the correct way to swing a sword. It was one thing to swing a sword, but if the body parts were moved in the correct order then the seeing could be all the more devastating . Asuma and the Hokage left him near chakra depletion after every training session, which said quite a lot considering his humongous supply of chakra. So far he had learned Endan no jutsu, Hosenka no jutsu and was on his way to learning Ryuka no jutsu from the Hokage. He had mastered the Daitoppia, though was struggling with actually forming a blade of wind for the Kaze no Yaiba no jutsu all from Asuma.

The two most enjoyable times that the group had together were performing missions to build their teamwork and the chakra exercises. When the group first attempted the tree walking it drove Naruto nuts that Hinata and Sakura could walk three quarters of the tree on the first try and by the second managed to do the whole thing. Shino and Sai had the best luck out of the boys, though only getting half way up. Kiba and Sasuke practically destroyed their trees by applying too much chakra, while Misao landed straight on her backside after using too little.

The missions were for the most part enjoyable. The mission enjoyed the most was walking the Inuzuka dogs, while the most hated was catching Tora, a cat belonging to the fire Daimyo's wife. She had moved to Konoha for a vacation.

It was Kiba's dearest wish to present that cat on a stick to Sasuke, who would then proceed to torch it with any one of his katon jutsu. He would then have loved to have fed the 'delicacy' to the dogs in the Inuzuka kennel.

-0-

It was early morning and the rookie twelve was in the Hokage's office collecting mission assignments.

"Well, I have a pleasant surprise for you all. You all have enough D rank missions under your belt to participate in a C rank. The missions are as follows team one will be heading to a small village to protect livestock from some bandits, team eight will be carrying a document from Konoha to Taki no Kuni and team ten will be guarding a merchant from Kusa no Kuni to Konoha for so he can sell is wares."

Each team's sensei picked up the mission scroll before telling their team to meet at a gate in a short while prepared for the mission. Team seven remained in the office as they were yet to receive their mission.

"Thank you for waiting patiently while the other teams got their assignments." His words came not a moment too soon as Naruto had been about to angrily ask about their C rank mission.

"Your mission requires an introduction." He stated to the team before yelling to someone out of the room "Send Tazuna-san in."

A short man with gray hair walked in. Even from the distance they were at it was still possible to smell the stench of alcohol about his as he entered the room.

"What's the idea? Giving me a girl to guard me back to my home in Nami no Kuni?" Before he had even blinked all three genin were around him with a kunai pointed at a different vital point. Sasuke spoke first.

"We work as one. An insult to our teammate is the same as insulting us. We will not tolerate such a thing." He stated with a smirk.

"Besides, you've just seen our skills first hand." Sakura piped up "Rest assured that Kakashi-sensei is a jounin and can handle anything we cannot." She finished, lowering her weapon; her teammates following suit.

Kakashi was proud, though you couldn't see it through the face mask.

"Alright meet at the village's main gates in an hour. Pack only the essentials for a mission. In other words some food, any weapons and some camping supplies."

Three hours later

After Kakashi had managed to avoid Naruto for the two hours that he was late the group had finally set off for Nami no Kuni. The trip was interspersed by little bits of chitchat, some of which focussing on Tazuna's home village.

"So Tazuna-san, what is Nami no Kuni like?" Sakura was the one who had asked.

"It's a peaceful little village. Were mainly based on fishing and there isn't any real threat of shinobi as we aren't a ninja village."

A couple of hours through the mission four people noticed a genjutsu in the form of a puddle on the ground. Well three people noticed. Naruto, still not quite adept at actually detecting minor fluctuations of chakra had his own process.

'Damn that puddle is making me thirsty. Wait! It hasn't rained in days, it's been pretty bright and the land is flat so that water isn't run off from somewhere. This is a trap. Thank Kami aniki taught me to always question my surroundings.'

No sooner than Naruto had come to his conclusion, two figures emerged from the puddles and started attacking. They both had Kirigakure hitai-ates on, though they were slashed, indicating that they were nuke-nin. They were dressed in black cloaks with a clawed gauntlet on opposing hands and a wicked-looking chain linking their two hands. Their first move was to remove Kakashi. They did so almost effortlessly, wrapping him up in the chain before shredding him to pieces with a sharp tug at each end of the chain. Not even stopping after killing Kakashi, they turned their attention to Tazuna. The three genins didn't even get time to contemplate their sensei's death; they waited for their foes to come to them. Sakura stayed put and guarded Tazuna while Sasuke and Naruto were the ones to meet the enemy head on. Sasuke simply got inside the wild slashes and strikes that one of the pair was dishing out, simply choosing to thrust the butt of his kunai into his throat, preventing him from breathing and stopping him in his tracks. In these vital few seconds Sasuke knocked him out.

Naruto parried the gauntlet of his opponent into a tree. With the chain now at full stretch and the mostly free opponent unconscious while his counterpart was struggling to free himself from the tree the danger had now passed.

Kakashi reappeared looking as calm as ever.

"You're alive?" Tazuna was shocked. He had seen him get torn to shreds with his own eyes.

"Of course he is." Sakura admonished. "If we genin could notice such an obvious trap, what do you think the odds on a jounin not noticing are. Slim to none is my guess."

"Great work everybody. Naruto, you got careless, you have a cut in your hand. Don't move too much. Their weapons have poison on them."

"NOOOO! I CANT DIE LIKE THIS, SOMEBODY SAVE ME!" That was Naruto.

"Shut it, Naruto. I can deal with that. Megumi-sensei taught me the Dokumeki no jutsu already." Sakura offered.

"Then please do so. I first have to question these two chuunin, then depending on what they say I may have a few questions for you Tazuna-san, that unless you want to save me the trouble and tell me why they were after you in the first place."

"I…fine." Tazuna reluctantly agreed. "I'm a bridge builder. I'm currently in the middle of a project that will link Nami no Kuni to the mainland. Well there is a business man that doesn't like the idea. His name is Gato."

"Gato? The shipping magnate? Kakashi asked, slightly intrigued.

"The same. He's one of the wealthiest in the world. He uses his business as a front whilst he deals in other illegal stuff like smuggling and slavery. And he uses bandits and shinobi for the dirty work. Well he controls the waters around Nami; he who controls the water controls everything. So I'm trying to build this bridge so we will be free of his terror."

"You do realise that you have knowingly broken our contract. Encountering a shinobi automatically bumps this up to a B rank mission. Should we encounter a jounin level one, the mission status goes up to A rank. We are well within our rights to refuse the mission and turn back."

Tazuna paled at the news.

"But if you do, we will never be free of Gato's reign. He'll have me killed. Then my daughter will die of sadness and my poor ten year old grandson will be forever left alone. Please reconsider."

"I'll leave the decision to my students." Kakashi replied.

The three genin all looked at each other. Naruto then spoke for them.

"I don't know about legalities all that much, but Kakashi sensei did say 'those who abandon the mission are scum, those who abandon those in need are lower than that'. If we turn back we are both abandoning the mission and someone in need. I say we continue the mission."

"Agreed." Was all that was necessary from both Sasuke and Sakura.

"While those weren't my exact words, you summed it up pretty well. It looks like we are continuing." Kakashi summed up his group interaction and decided on the course of action to be taken.

Tazuna let out a rather audible sigh of relief. 'I win.'

For hours the troupe walked, not really saying much. That was until Naruto decided to throw a kunai into a thicket of bushes. They went over to check what had tripped his senses. Upon seeing a small white rabbit Sakura scolded him.

"Naruto, what are you trying to do? Scare me to death. Everyone is already on edge from the attack and now you've hurt the poor thing." Using Shosen no jutsu she healed the nick in the rabbit's ear before setting it free.

Kakashi was thinking on a far different wavelength.

'That's a snow rabbit. They only have white fur in the winter when there is low sun. It's now summer, so its fur should be brown. This rabbit was raised indoors, possibly for a Kawarimi jutsu.'

Then he heard something as though it was flying through the air coming towards them.

"GET DOWN!" was all he had time to roar at the other four. The three genin quickly ducked while Kakashi pulled Tazuna out of harm's way.

Not a moment later a zanbatou flew over head. Any one that had been too late in ducking would have been decapitated. The giant sword embedded itself into a nearby tree and a man appeared on the handle. He was wearing camouflaged shinobi pants and sandals, but no upper body coverings except a strap. Like Kakashi he also had a face mask on, his consisting of thin strips of material.

"Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist." Kakashi said aloud, though to no one in particular.

"I'm honoured you know me, Copy Nin Kakashi" Zabuza coolly replied.

The three genin tensed ready for a fight.

"No, you three, guard Tazuna. This one is in league far above the others." He instructed his genin. "I'm going to need this." He continued, lifting up his headband and revealing his sharingan eye.

'The sharingan? How did he get that? No Uchiha I can ever remember would ever willingly part with it. It was a matter of pride for them that the sharingan stay within the Uchiha clan. Unless he's an...' Sasuke was genuinely shocked. He had never expected his sensei's covered eye socket to contain a sharingan eye.

"Kakashi I've been hired to kill that man. Care to step aside?" Zabuza tested his luck, knowing that Kakashi was hired to protect Tazuna.

"Sorry, no deal." Kakashi firmly answered, before entering a defensive stance.

"Didn't think so, though I thought I would at least show some courtesy to another professional." The words were barely out of his mouth before he appeared in the middle of the defence formation Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had set up. Before he could do any damage he was quickly taken out by Kakashi with a kunai to his side. Where blood was leaking out they only saw water.

"Mizu bunshin" Kakashi mused out loud. A moment later Kakashi was cut cleanly in two, only to burst into water as Zabuza had done.

Zabuza then found himself with a kunai to his neck

"I win Zabuza."

"Not quite Kakashi." Zabuza said as he swang his zanbatou, to Kakashi's neck. Realising the trouble he was in, Kakashi changed his position, ensuring that he slashed the mizu bunshin's neck to kill it while he brought his kunai into a position to block the slash. The swing had too much power in it and Kakashi was knocked out off balance; it was all the opening that Zabuza needed to kick him onto the surface of a nearby body of water.

Zabuza smirked

'Just where I want you." He thought to himself.

'Why is the water heavy?'Before Kakashi had regained his bearings, Zabuza had appeared next to him.

"Suiro no jutsu" Zabuza announced his jutsu and almost immediately Kakashi was trapped in a sphere of water.

"That sphere is almost as strong as steel due to its compression Kakashi, there is no chance of escape, as your last sight, I will kill off your genin along with the old man in front of you before I kill you."

A mizu bunshin formed from one of the previously destroyed ones. Naruto created a mass of kage bunshins and sent them all to attack the mizu bunshin. They dog piled the Zabuza bunshin before they were all being sent flying. The clone dispersed a second later; it appeared that at least one of the clones had managed to stab Zabuza with a kunai before being sent flying.

"Sasuke I've got a plan." Naruto shouted.

"What are you doing? You can't beat him. Just run. Get out of here." Kakashi tried to save his students from the fate he was to have in only a short while.

"Kakashi-sensei, we lost that option when you got captured." Sasuke replied.

"After all it was you that said 'those who abandon their teammates are lower than trash'" Sakura finished for him, using Kakashi's own words against him the second time that day.

Sasuke then caught a fuuma shuriken thrown by one of the naruto clones.

'That's the plan!' As he caught the fuuma shuriken. Now to add what he believed was the other part of Naruto's plan."Shadow Fuuma Shuriken" Sasuke stated before he threw it at Zabuza.

Zabuza caught it in his hand, only to jump over the second shuriken hidden in the shadows. The second shuriken poofed into a Naruto bunshin and threw a kunai at Zabuza. Zabuza used the shuriken in his hand to deflect the incoming kunai.

"Dammit." Sasuke growled in frustration. "I was sure that Naruto's plan would work."

The teamwork displayed by Naruto and Sasuke was unreal, but in the face of such a powerful ninja it was pointless. Naruto came up with an idea.

"Our attacks have been to focused." Sasuke gave him sidelong glance to tell him that he was listening.

"Our attacks were direct. If we create an attack that is too wide a range for him to dodge then he has no choice but to let Kakashi sensei free. I'm gonna need you to create the most powerful fire technique you can." He explained, still addressing Sasuke. Sasuke didn't question, but did as he was asked.

"Katon: Endan no jutsu." A fireball eight feet in diameter blossomed from Sasuke's mouth. While in mid-flight there was a sudden cry from Naruto.

"Fuuton: Daitoppia no jutsu." The fireball went from eight feet to twenty. Zabuza paled; he had one hand tied up so he could not perform the suijinheki and it was far too large to somehow dodge from his stationary position. The other hand was providing a protective layer of water around Kakashi; it was a lose lose situation. He released the jutsu and both ninja leaped in different directions at the last second to escape the rapidly approaching blaze.

Both men settled on the water and started to go through a long set of hand seals, the amazing thing was that they were doing the exact same hand seals at the exact same time.

"Stop copying me…" Zabuza started

"…you irritating monkey." Kakashi finished for him.

They hollered the jutsu name at the same time.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no jutsu" the gigantic dragons that appeared as a result of the jutsu fought for dominance, neither winning, sending water in all directions when they collapsed. Seeing that neither jutsu had succeeded both began doing hand seals once more, both doing the exact same hand seals.

"How are you copying my every move? Can you…"

"…see into the future? Yes I can. Zabuza, your future is death." Kakashi finished the jutsu a fraction of a second before Zabuza.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no jutsu." A giant vortex appeared and slammed Zabuza against the tree that his sword had originally lodged in. When the water had receded Kakashi walked over calmly and attempted to finish the job.

Two senbon flashed through the air and pierced through Zabuza in the neck, stilling all movement. Kakashi looked over for the source and saw a young hunter-nin. Walking over to the body he checked for vital signs, with none found he walked away and the hunter-nin approached the body.

"Thank you for stopping him. I have been tracking this one for quite some time."

Understanding that the role of an hunter-nin was to eliminate nuke-nin, the three genin remained silent through the exchange. By the end the hunter-nin had shunshined away with the body, presumably in order to dispose of the body.

Kakashi turned to the group and suggested that they move towards Tazuna's house. Midsentence he collapsed due to chakra exhaustion. He had used his sharingan for quite awhile in conjunction with two jutsu that require a considerable amount of chakra. The duty of carrying Kakashi home was rotated between all three genin as they made their way back to Tazuna's home in Nami.

-0-

**Jutsu Translations**

Endan - Fireball

Kage bunshin no jutsu – shadow clone technique

Kaze no yaiba – wind blade

Suijinheki – water encampment wall

Ryuka no jutsu – dragon fire jutsu

Mizu bunshin – water clone

Bunshin – clone

Daibakufu no jutsu – great vortex technique

Shunshin - body flicker technique

Shosen jutsu – mystic palm

Dokumeki no jutsu – poison extraction technique

Hosenka no jutsu – phoenix flower technique

Daitoppa – great break through

Fuuton – wind release

Katon – fire release

Suiton – water release

**A/N**: Another chapter done! That's number four in two weeks! I hope you thoroughly enjoyed this chapter. Now I know some would be wondering why no original jutsu have been used yet, well... How bout you wait patiently, please. The ones I've created require some intense training on the parts of the genin. I don't want to make them super strong jutsu when they don't have the necessary skill to handle them(Chakra reserves and control).

Speaking of exercise, I hope you liked the training plot created in the beginning.

Next time on The Eternal Chimera; meeting Haku, fighting Zabuza and the awakening of Naruto's bloodline!

Remember, review if you actually feel like it. It would help alot though if you do. Until next time.

-kamizon


	5. This Is It

**A/N**: Oh my! Kamizon here! I know this came out way too late... but WHO THE FUCK MADE SCHOOL SO FUCKING IMPORTANT! I am so sorry for the long update. I'm just gonna mention a few things first;

First note is to say there is a reason that I'm pairing a mortal with an immortal. If you can't guess what it is, then just wait for the chapter that tells you. It won't before a while. Secondly I can guarantee that there is a reason that Naruto is immortal. How he became immortal it will be revealed not this chapter but the chapter after.

I'm not going to just go handing out all the major plot points at the start of the story or before due time. If I did there would be no point in you reading the fic to see where I take the story.

Lastly the inconsistency was regarding Kyuubi's appearance. I said she appeared at hastening. This is an actual belief (sorry, can't remember the religion) and as such, you could not terminate a pregnancy after this point. I said that Kyuubi had been roaming around for about 15 weeks at her sealing. Hastening is 14 weeks before birth (full term is 40 weeks), added to that Naruto was premature the actual figure should have been like 10-12 weeks.

Thanks to those who faved and followed and the FEW who reviewed.

On with the chapter...

* * *

**Chapter Five: This Is It**

Team seven and Tazuna had arrived at Tazuna's house only a few short hours ago. There they had met his daughter Tsunami and her son Inari. They had arrived late at night so they were all tired, skipping an evening meal all five went to bed.

The following morning everybody was awake. Kakashi was now moving around with the aid of crutches that Tazuna had somehow procured. There was a very tense silence between the ninja. Sakura was the first to breach the silence.

"Kakashi-sensei, the other day, with the oi-nin(hunter-nin), something seemed off." Kakashi gave her a very serious look which showed in his eyes. It said that he had his own suspicions, but he wanted to hear hers first. "In training with both Megumi-sensei and Anko-sensei they both said that it was really hard to kill with a senbon, though I do know we use them in some medical treatments."

Kakashi looked at them all.

"You have all been taught the role of an oi-nin. Can any of you remember anything about the disposal method?"

All three looked completely out at sea so Kakashi gave them some extra information.

"Not how they do it, but where." Realisation first dawned on Sasuke.

"…they dispose of the body wherever it lands, circumstances permitting. That oi-nin took the body away. We don't know what became of it."

"Correct, it is possible to place a person in a near death state with senbon needles, but only if the aim is good enough. Also the oi-nin is supposed to take only the head back to the village and destroy the rest. The one we saw did not; it is possible that he was in league with Zabuza."

Naruto connected the rest of the dots and simply said it out loud what everyone had alluded to

"So, Zabuza is still alive."

Tazuna had only walked in on the back half of the conversation and Naruto's summation made him pale in fear. There was still a man out there who wanted his head and was powerful enough to take down his guards.

"So what are we going to do?" Naruto asked.

"We train. We will most likely be surrounded by water when we face him again. I'm going to teach you a few water techniques to take advantage of it. Mizu bunshin and suijinheki would be most useful. This is more about getting you to survive this long enough for me to get there, rather than actually take him on. If there is time we can try to get to Teppodama. I doubt we will get time though. From what I know we have about a week or two before he will recover; I just hope I'm recovered by then as well.

A short while later after breakfast, we find team seven out by a lake. Kakashi had taken them there to learn the suggested jutsu.

"Right these are the hand signs for making a mizu bunshin. It's very much like making a normal bunshin, though you must focus on bringing a replica of yourself out of the surrounding water." Kakashi demonstrated the hand signs for the three.

"Naruto, you will not be learning this. With your kage bunshin it's pointless to learn another jutsu so similar right now. You are going to focus on learning the suijinheki. He like he did for Sasuke and Sakura, demonstrated the hand seals before overseeing their progress.

By the end of the day all three had made some progress. Sakura could only partly perform the jutsu, most of her attempts failed before they could even take a hit, meaning that she was either putting in too much charka, resulting in the clone exploding, or too little meaning it collapsed almost instantly. Sasuke was simply having problems getting his image to form out the surrounding water.

Naruto was having the greatest difficulty out of the three, something that Kakashi attributed to his extreme fire affinity. He simply could not get the water to move in the way that was necessary in order to perform a protective shield against whatever attack was coming his way.

Kakashi watched his student train till late in the afternoon when he decided that it was enough for one day. He called them in and told them it was time to go home to rest and relax and try to perfect the techniques the next day.

At the dinner table there was hardly any conversation. The three genin were all too tired to talk so they simply ate. Inari was eating with the group for once and it was him that broke the silence.

"Why do you all try so hard?" he asked the group. He had secretly watched them through the day's training.

"Because we have a mission to complete. Because if we die here we can't fulfil any of our dreams."

"If you will die here? All of you are going to die!" he proclaimed. "You don't know what it's like living here and yet you think that you're gonna change everything. You don't know how hard life is here…"

Naruto cut in on his rant.

"Will you just shut up!" He started. "We may not live here, but we know better than anyone else what a hard life can be. We are ninja, we are soldiers. We could die on a mission. We could die on this mission, trying to help people that don't even seem to want to help themselves. Tell me that when you are our age and you get a job, just how often it is that you could be facing death, then tell me how hard your life really is."

His hands were clenched in fists of rage. He couldn't stand it anymore; he got up and left leaving everyone at the table and his dinner unfinished.

He went to the nearby forest to blow off steam. It wasn't that he wanted to train; he just wanted to destroy something. He went to a fairly densely wooded area and just started pummeling into the nearest tree. He was punching a divot into the tree's trunk. It wasn't good enough. He started to kick it, leaving large welts in the side. It still wasn't enough he stepped back and screamed out.

"Kaze no yaiba." The tree was cleanly sliced in half. When he was finished he was left panting, not from the effort, but trying to reign in his raging emotions.

'He's just a kid. He doesn't know better. He's just a kid.' Naruto thought to himself calmly. He shouldn't be angry at Inari. But he was angry at the boy for speaking about death in such a way. He had seen the names of fallen heroes on the Memorial Stone back in Konoha. All those dead ninja on the Memorial Stone. They could easily populate a small village. Living as a shinobi was the most dangerous job. You have to always look over your shoulder but Inari didn't know that. If Inari knew of the hard work and training shinobi go through just to protect others and themselves he wouldn't be spitting out so much trash.

"Are you all right?" a voice rang through the trees cutting through his thoughts. When Naruto looked around he was greeted with the sight of what he would later describe as one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen.

She was 5'1 with long black hair and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a pink kimono with small purple designs all over it. While the kimono wasn't very form fitting, you could still see that she took care of her body and at least stayed trim. The thing that most took his attention was her face. It was the perfect shape and nothing seemed out of proportion.

She smiled at him and he quickly realised that he was staring at her; he quickly averted his gaze and suddenly found great interest in the ground between them.

"Are you alright?" the girl repeated.

"I'm fine, just blowing off some steam."

"My name is Haku." ...

"Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto responded, realising that she was waiting for him to tell her his name.

The girl smiled warmly at him. If Naruto had realised who he was talking to he may not have been so relaxed. She recognised him as one of Kakashi's students immediately. The blond hair and whisker marks were a dead giveaway.

"So, what are you doing all the way out here?" Naruto put the question back to her.

"Collecting medicinal herbs. My friend is sick."

"Would you like some help?" Naruto offered after a short pause.

"Yes, that would be appreciated."

Haku and Naruto collected the herbs she was looking for after she showed him a basket half full of what she was looking for.

Midway through their searching Haku broke the silence once again.

"Naruto, you're a ninja, right?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Your head band tells me so. Well I was wondering…why do you fight?"

"Because if I don't then I will be killed. It's kill or be killed."

"You misunderstood. What do you fight for. Power? Or is it money? Is it because the life of a ninja is fun? Or do you fight to protect friends and other loved ones?"

Naruto was quiet for quite a while as he thought through his answer. For what reason did he fight? His dream was to become Hokage. To be acknowledged. That's for power. But the Hokage was the head of the village. Like a family, he was the one responsible for looking after and protecting all of the people in his village. He had his answer.

"I fight to protect. Protect my village. Protect my friends, my older brother and one day, maybe a family." He finally responded.

"That is a good reason to fight. Those that have someone to protect will one day find true strength." She said no more, Naruto pondered her message in his head.

She had finished picking herbs.

"Thank you for your help. I will be leaving now."

"Wait. Could we…would you like to meet here tomorrow? Just to talk. Same place same time?"

Haku looked at him for a second, into his eyes, it was the first time that she actually noticed how beautifully blue they were. They seemed almost as if they were pleading her to say yes. She hesitated before answering.

"Yes. I will see you here tomorrow." She replied before turning and disappearing into the night. Naruto also turned and went back to the house, ready for another of day of training.

On her way back to the base Haku was thinking to herself about what kind of a mess she had gotten herself into. She had met a member of the enemy and could have easily taken him out, yet she didn't. If Zabuza had found out about that then she would have to deal with the fall out involved from that. Worse still, she had arranged to meet the boy again. She knew it was dangerous and perhaps stupid, getting friendly with someone that she may end up fighting, and she wouldn't be able to bring herself to harm him.

That night Gato and two of his personal guards, Zori and Waraji, payed Zabuza and Haku a visit.

"Zabuza, I'm paying you to kill an old man. It should not be that difficult."

"He is being guarded by Kakashi Hatake, one of Konoha's elite ninja."

"I don't care. Get rid of him or…" Gato made to reach for Zabuza to emphasise the point he was about to make when Haku grabbed his hand

"You are unworthy of even touching Zabuza-sama" Haku said with an icy voice while crushing the bones in Gato's hand.

Gato's guards went to draw their swords but before they had them halfway unsheathed Haku was already by their sides with a senbon poised to strike, both aimed at the kidney. Getting the message, the three men left.

"You didn't have to do that you know. I could have handled that myself."

"True, but you need to rest particularly after being put in a near death state." Haku replied. Zabuza left it at that and tried to get some sleep.

The next day seemed like a blur to Naruto. He, Sakura and Sasuke went and practiced the techniques shown to them by Kakashi. They practiced on their own as Kakashi was given time to rest from his battle with Zabuza.

While they were training Sasuke and Sakura had filled in Naruto about the Inari and his history with a man named Kaiza. It turned out that the man had saved Inari from drowning and ever since Inari had worshiped Kaiza as his hero, eventually the pair becoming as close as father and son.

Kaiza was hailed as a hero all over wave when he saved the village from being flooded by braving terrible currents in order to close a dam gate that had burst open. When Gato appeared Kaiza confronted him about his business dealings. For his boldness and public display of opposing Gato, he got his arms cut off and died in a public execution. Since then Inari had never been the same.

They finished at the same time they had the day before, going back to the house for dinner. Naruto once again walked out in the middle of the meal, this time in a far better mood.

He waited in a clearing for Haku, near where he had met her yesterday. When he saw her he smiled, then his eyes were drawn to a small rabbit in her arms and he immediately tensed.

She noticed the subtle changes in his demeanour and asked him about it.

"Naruto-san, what's wrong? Are you not happy to see me?"

"That rabbit." He started "I've seen that rabbit before. It was right before Zabuza attacked us." He told her. "Now that I think about it, I never saw the oi-nin's face that came for him, they had a mask on."

She tensed as well. Not everything was given away, all he had alluded to was that she was the oi-nin from the other day, which she was. He still had said that he believed that she was working with Zabuza. She may not have to kill him yet.

"My team and I, we think that the oi-nin from the other day was working with Zabuza, after all, they are supposed to destroy the body where it falls and take the head back to the village as proof of the kill." He had gone and said what she did not want to hear. If he had gone on believing that she had actually disposed of the body then she could have let him live, but now, the choice was taken out of her hands.

Haku settled into a fighting stance, Naruto remained still.

"Why? Why did you not kill me when I was unaware yesterday? Why did you agree to come and talk with me again today?"

"Because I couldn't bring myself to do it. I had no real reason to kill you, but now you know, you can report back to your sensei."

"That makes no sense. We would have ended up fighting at some point any way, surely you must have realised that and still you let me live. Why? It's because it's not in your nature to kill, isn't it?"

Haku remained silent. He took her silence as a signal to continue.

"Why do you still stand by him if all he requires you to do is kill, something that you seem to detest?" she looked at him with burning eyes.

"Because killing for Zabuza-sama gives me a purpose. He saved me from a path of nothingness. He gave me a use, to be his tool, to kill when he requires me to, to be discarded when the tool outlived its usefulness. All I needed to do remain his tool was not become useless and always have a function."

Naruto's gaze softened as he heard her reasons.

"Would you tell me about it? About your life?"

Haku looked at him as though she was having some sort of great internal debate. She finally steeled herself to tell him her story.

"I used to live in Kirigakure with my mother and father as villagers. It was a simple life, but we were happy for a time. All around us was the blood wars in Mist. Anybody with a kekkei genkai was killed, they were feared. One day I was playing with water, when I managed to levitate it." She paused to draw a breath, checking if Naruto was still listening; to her surprise he still was.

"I was so excited, so I showed my mother. She looked at me like I was doing something horrible ad slapped me for it. My concentration broke and the water dropped to the floor, but it was too late, my father had already seen. Neither one of us realised that he was there. The next time we saw him was with a group of men. They killed my mother before turning to me. I had no choice, I killed them all. I still have no recollection to this day about how, but all I remember was everything being painted in red."

Her throat was starting to get dry from talking so much, but still she pressed on.

"After that I wandered, eating out of the trash, doing whatever I could to survive. I lived like this for some time before Zabuza-sama found me. He took me in and trained me, taught me everything he knew. I was to be his personal weapon. For the first time in a long time I was happy. I had a purpose."

"You were persecuted for something out of your control. Naruto said solemnly. "If you detest killing as you do why do you do it? Why should you have to kill, why fight us when you don't want to?"

"Can you understand? Not having a dream... not being needed by anyone... the pain of merely being alive "

"Even if the purpose seems incorrect? As though you were using the tool for a purposed it was not designed for? What about your dreams now?"

"I want to protect the person important to me... I want to work for that person; I want to fight for that person... I want to make that person's dream come true... That is my dream..."

Naruto remained silent. He had no retort to that; no reasonable counterargument.

"We have been out here for quite some time. I think it is best we get back to our camps."

"Meet me here again tomorrow."

"Why? There is nothing that you can say that will change my mind."

"I can still enjoy your company before we have to fight." A small smile crossed Haku's face. She truly did enjoy the boy's company, even if there was nothing said. She felt as though she could relax and even let her guard down a little.

"Very well then. I will meet you here tomorrow."

With that both left the clearing and went their different ways.

The next day saw all three perfecting the jutsu they were working on. Sakura and Sasuke had managed to make a few bunshin and were now practicing the suijinheki like Naruto was. Naruto now had the proper form of the wall around him, but it was taking him far too long to make the wall around him. By the time he actually did so it would be pointless as the attack would have already hit.

By the end of the day Naruto was now able to raise the wall of water at a reasonable speed, he would move onto the teppodama no jutsu tomorrow. Sasuke and Sakura had managed to raise the wall of water. The problem was that if it was thick enough to protect against the attack, it didn't cover their whole body; if it covered their whole body it wasn't strong enough to protect against the attack.

Again they stopped late in the afternoon and went back for dinner. For once Naruto ate all the food on his plate, though he did eat at top speed so when he excused himself from the table the others were still eating anyway. He left the house and made his way to the clearing that he met Haku in yesterday.

Haku was already waiting there for him, her rabbit with her again; there was no point in trying to hide it now that he knew.

"I'm glad you came." He said to her.

"Likewise." Was all the response that he received.

"Listen. You told me your life story yesterday. To someone that was practically a stranger. I…want to return the favour." This gained Haku's interest. She sat down on the damp grass and waited for him to continue.

"Where to begin? You remember how I said that you were persecuted for things out of your control?" He saw her give small nod and continued.

"Well I am the same. I'm sure you know about the tailed beasts. Thirteen years ago, the Kyuubi attacked my village and it really messed up the scene. It was far too strong for simple shinobi to fight."

Haku was confused, it made for a good story, but how did his home village's destruction tie in with his own life story?

"Well, everyone waited for the strongest in our village, the Hokage. When he appeared he defeated the beast. Everyone believed that he had killed it, but it was impossible for a mere mortal to kill the beast; after all, the thing was immortal."

Her mind was trying to think of a way that he could have defeated the being without killing it. She could come up with nothing. By this account Konoha should have been razed to the ground.

"He sealed the thing. It was his only option. He sealed it into the only thing that would be able to hold it; a human baby."

Her eyed widened in realisation.

'He has the Fox sealed inside him?'

"That baby, it was you wasn't it?" she asked gently.

He nodded.

"Since that day, I was treated worse than trash, the villagers beat me, they tried to kill me in every way possible. The only people that seemed to care were the Hokage and a few of his ANBU. I found that there was a law preventing my knowledge of all this. I found out from my sensei as he tried to kill me."

Seeing the deadened look in his eyes she walked over and did the thing that came most naturally; she gave him a hug. There was nothing in it, just a hug to show that she understood his plight and was there for him right at that moment.

It was a shock to feel her arms around him. He felt comfortable, eventually returning the hug.

"You're not afraid? You don't think I'm some demon?" he was in shock. The only response was a warm smile. He didn't think that any one would ever accept him. He realised that he had not told Haku about Kakashi. Just as Zabuza had taken her in and trained her, Kakashi had taken him in and trained him, though not to the same extent.

"It's not all tragedy, though. In the end Kakashi-sensei adopted me. He became my family." All with a satisfied smile.

The two remained silent for some time, before Naruto spoke again.

"When we meet next, it may be as enemies. What will you do? Will you kill me and my friends? Or will you let us live, even if it goes against Zabuza's dream?"

"I would prefer to let you live, but only time will tell." She answered the question carefully, cautious not to commit herself to one side or the other.

"Naruto-san, it was good getting to know you. If we had met under different circumstances, I'm sure we would have been good friends."

"It's naive to say, but I wish this would all just work out somehow. Good bye for now, Haku-san."

With one last glance at the other both left the clearing and headed back to their temporary homes.

The next day Kakashi told all of his genin to rest; while he did estimate that it would be seven days before Zabuza was operational it could be less given that he was more or less in peak physical condition. Kakashi himself was almost completely recovered from his bout with Zabuza. He had been guarding his Tazuna while his genin learned the new jutsu. Fortunately no one attacked within this time making his recovery all the smoother.

Naruto and his two teammates just talked in the house for the day. Naruto only intermittently contributed to the conversation, he still had quite a bit on his mind, mostly what he would do if he had to fight Haku.

The following day saw Sasuke and Sakura go with Kakashi to the bridge to guard Tazuna. Naruto was left at home to guard Inari and Tsunami; the more Kakashi learned of Gato the more he understood the underhanded methods that he employed.

Naruto was in the house, rechecking his weaponry when he heard a loud crash down stairs followed by a scream from Tsunami.

"NO, PLEASE, LEAVE HIM ALONE. HE'S JUST A BOY."

Naruto cautiously went down stair to investigate. When he had a clear view he could see Tsunami being held captive by a man, with a beanie on with greyish hair dangling from the bottom around his face, he wore a grey jacket and black pants. The man had a katana strapped to his waist.

Inari was looking at his mother, feeling helpless. He finally understood why Naruto and his friends trained; to never feel as he did now. He was weak, he could do nothing, yet something had to be done; otherwise he would lose his mother. He had nothing he could do except rush in blindly and hope for the best; he did exactly that. He ignored his mother's calls to run and save his own life and continued charging towards his death.

Naruto saw the distraction and wasted no time in using it. He quickly replaced Inari with a log before rescuing Tsunami from her rope bindings.

"Why you little brat. Now the wench gets it." The man with grey hair said before aiming a slash to where Tsunami originally was only to find loose rope bindings. Quickly he aimed a slash at Naruto's midsection; it was easily parried before a kunai was lodged in the assailant's skull.

Naruto turned to Inari and Tsunami.

"I'm really sorry you had to see that, but I couldn't let him live. If he is here then it's a fairly good bet that Zabuza is on the bridge going after your father." Naruto said, addressing Tsunami more so than Inari.

"I have to go and help my teammates." Before leaving he turned to Inari." "Inari, I heard Kaiza's tale. I'm sure that for what you did, putting your mother ahead of yourself, he would be most proud." Without any further exchange Naruto left for the bridge.

Inari looked at him till he could see him no longer and realised what he had to do. He went inside and grabbed the cross bow before leaving to gather as many townspeople as he could to help in the fight against Gato.

Meanwhile

Kakashi, Sakura and Tazuna all arrived at the bridge to find bodies everywhere. They all seemed to be groaning in pain and trying to escape from whatever had left them in that condition. Team seven sans Naruto was immediately alert and ready for battle. Their opponents appeared before them, Zabuza and the oi-nin that had come for him the other day when they first encountered each other.

"Well it seems we meet again Zabuza." Kakashi greeted.

"I don't have time for pleasantries Kakashi." Zabuza responded, forming five mizu bunshin and sending them to attack. Sasuke was shaking in his place, something that didn't go unnoticed by Zabuza.

"Look how poorly trained your student is, Kakashi. He's trembling in fear."

"Excitement!" Sasuke corrected

"Go Sasuke, Sakura guard Tazuna." Kakashi gave his orders and before anyone else could move the 5 bunshin were destroyed leaving only water around Sasuke.

"Well, it looks like you have some competition in speed Haku. Go take him, Kakashi is mine."

Zabuza and Kakashi watched their students exchanging blows for a short while. Sasuke started the trade of blows with a sweep with a kunai at Haku's neck, his was easily parried be Haku using senbon needles before a stabbing counter attack was made; with Haku holding four senbon in her right hand. The strike was dodged, though narrowly and resulted in both making another attempt at the same time. Their weapons met midstrike and the pair fought for domination, struggling to throw the other off balance and get a free shot in, they seemed fairly evenly matched. While their weapons were still locked Haku spoke.

"It seems that you are at a severe disadvantage."

"How so?" Sasuke asked back.

"First, we are surrounded by water, my element; secondly one of your hands is in use, preventing the use of hand seals."

"As I see it, the only advantage you have is that we are surrounded by water…" Sasuke countered before Haku started making one handed hand signs.

"Hijutsu: Sensatsu suisho."

The hand signs ended and Haku stomped on the ground. The water from the destroyed mizu bunshin rose into the air, froze into needles and then all shot at terrific sped towards Sasuke. He had two options, defend or dodge. There was more than enough water available for suijinheki but it would give Haku ample time to prepare another attack while he couldn't see out of the water shield properly. With only one real option left open to him, he focused chakra into his legs, before springing four meters into the air. Kakashi's eye grew visibly wider.

'I've never seen that before. What have I gotten Sasuke into?' he thought to himself, now concerned for his student's safety. Zabuza words broke into his thoughts.

"Kakashi, let's get our rematch started."

He disappeared in a flash; Kakashi barely managed to follow his movement and backpedalled quickly. Not a moment after he moved Zabuza's blade crashed down where he was standing, breaking apart cement where the blade landed. Kakashi immediately raised his headband, once again revealing the sharingan eye.

"Kakashi, the last time you won, you tricked me. You caught me in a genjutsu of some kind by using that eye. You're not going to get the same chance this time, kirigakure no jutsu. I'm the master of the silent kill." Zabuza announced to Kakashi. "Tell me, how will you defeat me when you cannot hear me and you cannot see me? Which target will I strike? Lungs, liver, kidneys, subclavian artery, heart, brain, trachea or carotid artery?"

Zabuza's voice faded into the mist and Kakashi heard no more. He could see nothing, hear nothing, the only thing he had to go by was instinct alone.

'If I were Zabuza, where would I strike? What is the best target?' then the answer hit Kakashi like a thunderbolt. 'His mission is to kill Tazuna'. He realised before getting to the bridge builder as soon as he could. He got there just in the nick of time, blocking the great sword with a kunai, struggling under the weight of the sword. The pressure suddenly released and Zabuza had disappeared into the mist once again.

'I'm going to have to deal with Kakashi before taking out the old man.' thought an irate Zabuza.

Zabuza once again went for a vertical strike for where Kakashi was standing; Kakashi quickly sidestepped the incoming blade only. Zabuza realising that he had missed once again feathered his blade and making a wide swing in the direction that Kakashi dodged in. Kakashi jumped over the blade and ran in for a quick strike with his kunai, only to have to block the blade again; Zabuza had continued with the sweep full circle, gaining momentum with the blade as he swang. Kakashi was far too close to dodge and had to block to prevent himself from being sliced cleanly in two. The blade was swung with immense force; the weight of the blade and the power of the swing was enough to send Kakashi flying, Zabuza went haring after the body, going for another strike.

Haku and Sasuke's fight had gone to a completely new level. Sasuke was now surrounded by innumerable mirrors composed of ice. It seemed this was Haku's signature jutsu, making full use of her Hyouton bloodline. Sasuke had also awakened his own bloodline. The dormant sharingan had manifested in his eyes. Once obsidian black, they are now red with one tomoe in each eye. Haku noticed the change in the eye and recognised it for what it was immediately, the sharingan was one of the most well known bloodlines in the world. Along with the sharingan came an increase in Sasuke's fighting ability. Her signature jutsu, Makyo Hyosho, grants her speed above anything else, it also allowed her to confuse her enemies as illusory images of herself appeared in every window, yet with the arrival of the sharingan in his eyes he was getting better at following and predicting her movements. She realised that she had to end this quickly before it got too far out of hand; the original intention was to keep him occupied while Zabuza killed Tazuna, then she could let the boy live.

Haku emerged from the mirror she was in and lashed out at Sasuke. She buried a fist deep into his gut making him double over holding his stomach. While he was bent over but still standing she delivered a devastating elbow to the back of the head, causing his face to go crashing into the concrete. Quickly retreating to another mirror while he was face down and unable to see she waited until he turned his back on her in a hopeless attempt to find her. The opportunity arose not long after, she threw a senbon at his spine in a non-lethal point, only to have it dodged and then a kunai thrown at her in retaliation.

'He couldn't have purposefully made that opening could he? Surely it would take longer to get used to those eyes.' Haku thought rapidly. She noticed him going through had seals and let him be for the time being, it would take far more power than a simple fire jutsu to destroy any of these mirrors.

"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu." Sasuke watched as the fireball hit the mirror and had no visible effect. A moment of distracted irritation was all Haku needed. She emerged from a mirror and landed another hit, this time to Sasuke's temple, causing his vision to blur. A high aimed round house kick soon followed kicking him in the back of the head. He was starting to run out of options, fire jutsu were ineffective against the mirror, she never came out of the mirror for very long and when she did her moves were devastating. If he used any jutsu she would see immediately, so using the water bunshin that he had leaned would be pointless as it would be swiftly destroyed simply meaning a waste of chakra.

Kakashi and Zabuza were still in a deadlock of sorts. Neither had landed a solid hit on one another, clothes were slashed and the only real damage dealt was when one or the other went flying due to a kick or a punch. Kakashi could hear Sasuke's screams through the mist and wanted to end this quickly, yet the opportunity to do so had not yet presented itself.

Naruto arrived at the bridge; the sight that greeted him was beyond bizarre. All he could make out was a great mist covering the battle field with Tazuna and Sakura guarding him at the very edge on the other side of the mist was a mass of rectangular sheets of ice forming something of a dome. Inside he could just make out a figure with black hair being battered around by something moving at very high speed. 'Sasuke' he thought wildly, not even considering a battle plan before rushing out to help his teammate.

"Haku-san, Stop this." Naruto called out through the thick mists.

"You know I cannot, Naruto-san. I live to serve Zabuza. He is ordering me to fight, if I do not I am as good as useless."

"Is this the way it must be? Will you go against your own desires of not killing, just to help him?"

"We all do what we must."

It seemed to Naruto that Haku had formed her own resolve; he would have to steel his will into fighting someone that he had formed a friendship with over the past few days. Naruto and Sasuke stood back to back. Naruto noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, it was the only warning he received before it was raining senbon all over the place. The two boys tried in vain to block as many as they could, their bodies being peppered in the needles, making it difficult to move. Naruto noticed the flash of movement again, but was faster on is reaction.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa." He had intended on knocking Haku off course and out of the mirrors but he was too slow, he did however manage to knock a great deal of the thrown senbon out of the air.

Haku saw the move used and realised that he could only knock the senbon out of the air in one direction, but was not fast enough to track her movements. They were standing back to back, meaning that Sasuke could not see the jutsu and had failed to copy it. The solution was simple; attack Sasuke and get him out of the way, then once he was dealt with simply wait until Naruto was open and place him into a near death state like she had done Zabuza. Simple enough, though she would have to start trying to do more than simply, knock Sasuke out, her attempts had thus far have been unsuccessful, she would have to resort to maiming him if necessary.

The boys were carefully watching the mirrors when they saw all of them go through a short chain of hand seals as one.

"Mizu no yaiba." Haku announced. Before Sasuke or Naruto could react four of the mirrors had melted and were now forming blades of water all aimed at Sasuke. The all converged upon him leaving lacerations on both his arms across his body and on his left shoulder. This was all Sasuke's body could handle, he had withstood the brutal attacks Haku had inflicted, he had endured the countless senbon that had pierced his body, but this was too much for one body to handle, he collapsed under the strain he was feeling and passed out.

"I thought you hated killing? Why have you done this? If you had stepped aside all this could have been avoided." Naruto shouted

"I could say the same to you Naruto-san. If your friend hand not chosen to fight he would not be in this condition. As it is he still lives, though he will die from his injuries if not treated soon." Naruto tensed at the information.

"Do you truly mean what you say? Do you truly wish to avoid his death?"

"I do, but there was no other option."

"Let me take him to Sakura. She is a medic, she can help him."

Haku gave him an appraising look before responding.

"Very well, but if you do not return immediately to finish this then I will simply go after the bridge builder. Naruto gave a short nod in recognition, before taking Sasuke's battered and bleeding body to Sakura.

Sakura saw a figure approaching out of the mist, when she saw that it was Naruto she almost relaxed…almost. When she noticed that he was carrying Sasuke bleeding and unconscious she feared the worst. Not giving her any time Naruto immediately spoke.

"Sakura, he's still alive. You have to look after him while I take care of Haku."

He set Sasuke down; Sakura started working on healing him in an instant, using the shosen jutsu in an attempt to heal the wounds. Shosen jutsu was not designed to heal such large wounds, but it was better than nothing and so she tried.

When Naruto arrived back at the scene of the domes he noticed that they were all missing, only to find Haku standing in the middle of the bridge waiting for his return

"I'm glad you decided to finish this. I didn't want to have to kill the bridge builder myself."

Naruto wasted no words, he charged forwards, sending a left hook right at Haku's head. She bent backwards and planted her hands on the ground before pushing off the ground with her feet, connecting with Naruto's chin on the way up. Naruto stumble back slightly from the blow, before he had completely regained his senses Haku was already on the offensive, she sent a knee right towards his stomach. Parrying her left knee with his left hand Naruto used his free hand to punch Haku in the ribs as her momentum carried her past. Both stood firm, massaging different part of their body, there was a surprising amount of power behind each blow.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu." Naruto was instantly surrounded by four bunshin, each drawing a kunai. One launched a kunai, closely followed by another, the remaining two and the real Naruto closed the distance between Haku and themselves, kunai at the ready. The first thrown kunai was evaded; the second was plucked out of the air with little effort. She held the kunai in a reverse grip and ducked under a slash from one of the Naruto replicas before stabbing it between the ribs and causing it to poof out of existence. The second bunshin was already on her, aiming to stab her in the chest with its kunai, she guided the kunai in the bunshin's fist away from her, causing the bunshin to run too far in the direction it was redirected. Before it could turn around she had thrown the kunai she was wielding at it, making it disappear in a puff of smoke as well. There was only one left charging; the real Naruto, not that Haku knew of course. She prepared herself for the attack, deftly swatting the stab to the side she proceeded to forcefully jab the pressure receptor in the carotid artery causing the victim to fall to the ground. She did not even wait for the bunshin to disperse, she continue onto the remaining two opponents before noticing that they had disappeared, she looked back to where the last 'bunshin' was to see Naruto passed out on the floor.

'Shit! I hope that pink haired medic gets to him on time. That artery I hit is supposed to send blood to the head."

She looked to the mist and noticed that it was starting to clear, either Zabuza was losing concentration, or the battle was going on for some time and Kakashi was outlasting him. The latter seemed more likely, Haku rushed into the battle in an attempt to aid Zabuza in any way that she could.

Kakashi had unsealed his ninjato from his ANBU days; it was proving to be a very effective strategy. While Zabuza was more than used to using his sword, both he and Kakashi seemed to be of an equal level physically, so it was hardly surprising when Kakashi had landed a few hits with the weapon. While it was heavier than a kunai, it had a far greater reach and was still far lighter than the zanbato, Kubikiri Honcho. Kakashi appeared to have his fair share of bruises from being sent flying by Zabuza's heavier weapon, but Zabuza was sporting some rather deep cuts from Kakashi's blade. Currently they were dueling for supremacy with their blades locked, Kakashi supporting the blunt of his blade with his free hand. He quickly had to end the contest as he noticed Haku sent a barrage of senbon his way.

"Haku, stay out of this. This is my fight." Zabuza ordered.

"Zabuza, we need to finish this. I will help you then you can finish the bridge builder and complete the mission.

The trio started trading blows again, Zabuza keeping to his kinjutsu techniques while Haku was throwing senbon from a distance. Zabuza had slowed sufficiently, a tell tale sign that wielding the heavy sword was taking its toll. Every time Kakashi moved in for a clean blow he was forced to dodge by a volley of senbon, when he went after Haku he was blocked by Zabuza. Eventually growing tired of getting nowhere, he formed his own plan in his head.

'Tazuna, forgive me for this.' He said a silent apology before making a kage bunshin.

The clone went chasing after Haku, which Zabuza immediately intercepted. It put up very little resistance when he tried to cut it in half. His was about to blade connect with the clone.

"Katsu!" Kakashi intoned, just as the bunshin was about to be destroyed. It exploded right in front of Zabuza sending him flying. While dust from the destroyed bridge was still floating in the air Kakashi quickly made his way towards Haku. She was unable to see clearly when the dust flew into the air, sensing something move to her right she threw the senbon in her hands, she heard a poof indicating he must have been a shadow clone. By now she was on high alert, something tripped her senses, again just out of her field of vision, throwing the senbon in the general direction she herd the clang of objects metal hitting each other.

'So that's where you are.' She thought triumphantly, throwing more senbon in the area. While she was distracted she never noticed that the real Kakashi was coming behind her; the one she was aiming at was simply a kage bunshin used to distract her. She froze her actions immediately when she felt the cold steel of Kakashi's ninjato against her throat.

"Don't move." He ordered. The dust now settling from the explosion, Zabuza could now see the predicament that his apprentice had gotten herself into.

Gato had organised an army of thugs, mercenaries and even a few rogue samurai. They were en route to the bridge now where the fight between Zabuza and Kakashi would take place. He looked behind himself and grinned; by the time he and his army arrived everybody would either be dead or too weak to fight. He could simply kill of all the ninja and forget about having to pay Zabuza. He would dearly love to have the head of that girl, Zabuza's apprentice, for breaking his hand.

When he arrived at the bridge he saw the remnants of the battle, there were gouges and craters all across the bridge. He smiled maniacally when he saw that the girl was a hair's breadth away from losing her head just as he would have wanted. Had he waited a moment longer he may have had his wish, but he decided to speak.

"Ninja-san, how kind of you to take out our trash."

"Gato! What are you doing here? This is our fight get lost and let me finish my job." Zabuza responded.

"Your job? You no longer have a job. The so called Demon of the Mist defeated by one man and a group of kids. Pathetic! I'll have these do the job for me." He said motioning to the army behind him. "They charge far less, some even do it for free, providing I allow them certain…pleasures afterwards." He grinned sickly.

"Fuck! It seems that we no longer have a quarrel, Kakashi." Kakashi nodded and released Haku while Zabuza nodded and released the kirigakure jutsu.

"I will let them run wild in the town for a little while." Gato informed, his men cheered behind him anticipating the fun they were going to have.

An arrow lodged itself in the ground right in front of Gato. It was Inari and the townspeople that he had managed to gather in hopes of defeating Gato.

"You aren't going to set one foot in the village! You here me! Your days are over!" Inari yelled.

Gato grunted in frustration, then he noticed a small pile of something not 10 meters in front of him. Realising that it was the unconscious body of a boy dressed in orange he motioned for a rogue samurai to pick it up. The man with brown hair growing in three large tufts on his head and a tattoo on his left arm complied and brought it back to his master.

"It seems you all didn't learn your lesson when I killed that stupid Kaiza. Maybe this time you will realise that I will kill anyone who defies me."

Kakashi realised what was happening but couldn't get there fast enough. Two of the samurai were holding Naruto's unconscious form, while a third, the one with tattoos, was lining his blade with Naruto's neck. It was over in an instant; Naruto's head parted company from his body.

'Oh my ...' Similar thoughts went through other minds.

Kakashi slowed to a stop, they just killed his little brother, he had failed.

Sakura was in tears, her teammate was dead and she could do nothing about it.

Inari fainted at the sight; his poor mind could not handle the sight of loosing another person that had inspired him. Naruto along with his teammates and sensei had helped him fully understand Kaiza's words and now he was gone.

Haku was in a state of shock. She started walking towards his remains, disregarding the fact that it was right in the middle of an enemy army "NARUTO!" she screamed in anguish. She had just met a person that had understood her pain and now he was gone.

'What have I done!'

Hearing the scream the samurai responsible for beheading Naruto smirked at Haku.

"What's wrong? Did I just kill your boyfriend? Well he's still warm if you want a goodbye kiss." His comrades chuckled darkly at the words as he held up Naruto's head for all to see.

It was true. Naruto's head was still warm after being killed, very warm in fact.

"ARGH! What the fuck!" the samurai screamed in pain, dropping Naruto's head after a few moments, as though it had burned him.

This got strange looks from everyone. He watched the head as he nursed his hand, which was now blistering from the heat Naruto's severed head was now producing.

As they watched the head red flames stated licking at his hair, spreading down his face until his entire head was consumed in a fiery blaze. Likewise, his body started to heat up, flames started erupting from his body until it too was completely ablaze. The flames went from a red, to a bright blue, Gato's army that was standing nearby cold feel the heat coming of his body, they all just stood there rooted to the spot watching as his body continued to burn.

Sakura was watching the whole thing; she watched as his body started to burn, she was so surprised that she was shocked out of her tears. Kakashi hoped against hope that this would somehow be a good thing and that everything would somehow work out. They continued watching as the flame changes colour once again, moving from the intense blue to a blinding white.

Gato's army was slowly being killed. The heat was so intense from Naruto's body that it was killing them where they stood, burning them alive. Even Kakashi from where he stood could feel the intense heat and realised just how hot it must be from where the army was standing. Those at the back of the army were finding it incredibly hard to breathe. Then it hit them; the fire from the boy's body was so intense that all the oxygen in the area was being consumed by it, they were slowly suffocating as their air around them was consumed by the inferno.

Just as suddenly as it had started the flames slowly died down, going back through the blue flame before receding to the red flame and finally disappearing to cool down. Once the flames were gone it was possible to see Naruto's body, whole and complete, as though he was never beheaded. All around him stood piles of ash, the incinerated bodies of Gato and his army. Further back countless bodies lay where they had suffocated from the severe lack of oxygen.

* * *

**A/N**: Aaaand Cuuuttt!

Finally, chapter 5 is outta the way! Hope you liked this one. I actually decided against leaving this one as a cliffhanger at the end. I like you guys that much.

Once again, I apologise for the long wait. School is a bitch! I' would have tried to get chapter six out in a short time but next week I've got exams. So how about the week after.

An explanation to Naruto's immortality comes next chapter. And Naruto meets someone.

Thats all for now. Until next time... Stay safe. Use a rubber :)

-kamizon

* * *

Jutsu translations below

Kirigakure no jutsu – Hiding mist technique

Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suisho- Special Jutsu:Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death

Suiton: Suijinheki no jutsu – Water release: water encampment wall

Suiton: Teppodama - Water release: Gunshot

Mizu bunshin – water clone

Mizu no yaiba – water blade (this is something that I made up)


	6. Origins

**A/N: **OH MY! Kamizon is back. Long time no see. Well I've had a really fucked up month! The exams, the short periods of sleep and the lack of motivation in all aspects of my life. I'd like to apologise for the long wait, I mentioned that I'd get this chapter out two weeks after Chap 5 but i couldn't. Its been a month and here's chapter 6! Its 10k+ words long and i hope you enjoy it.

On with it

**Chapter Six: Origins**

Kakashi looked on, astounded at the sight before him. Naruto's head was severed, right before his very eyes. Then not a minute later his body and head erupted into flames, when the flames died out his killers were all dead while his body was completely reformed.

Sakura for her part dared not get her hopes up; she wouldn't rejoice until she felt his pulse. She got up to ran towards Naruto, only to be stopped by Kakashi grabbing her arm.

"You saw what happened. You saw the intensity of those flames. We can't be sure how hot it is in there."

Understanding that she may have potentially rushed into her death she waited by her sensei. Haku, unwilling to wait decided to speed up the process by summoning copious amounts of water to the area. As soon as it hit the ground it evaporated. Kakashi and Zabuza merely watched her. They could have easily helped her with a suiryudan, but on the off chance that they hit Naruto they did not want to risk it. Eventually the water stopped evaporating and just started to pool on the ground around Naruto, an indication that it was closer to being a temperature suitable for humans.

Kakashi along with Haku and Sakura rushed in to check his vitals. Kakashi being the fastest of the three got there first and almost cried with joy at finding a strong and steady heart beat.

"He's alive." He informed the two girls.

Sakura broke down into tears from all the strain; first Sasuke was brought to her nearly dead, then her other teammate dies shortly after, only to be reincarnated. Haku let go of a breath she didn't even know she was holding as the warm feeling of relief flooded through her body. 'Naruto...'

"We should all go back to Tazuna's house so Naruto and Sasuke can rest" Kakashi suggested

Tazuna looked somewhat apprehensive, he wasn't sure if Kakashi was including Zabuza and Haku in that. Sensing his unease Zabuza spoke to him.

"Relax, without an employer I have no reason to kill you."

With that they all moved out, Tazuna carrying an unconscious Inari, Sakura and Haku sharing the burden that was Naruto and Kakashi picking up Sasuke by himself.

**MINDSCAPE**

Naruto was in front of the seal that contained Rei.

"Now, what the hell happened?"

"You died and were brought back to life." A flat answer.

"Remember, you are immortal." Rei added.

"Well, at least I have your chakra to help me recover."

"What are you talking about?"

"Every time I was beaten, the doctors said your chakra helped me recover."

"My chakra cant do that. It's not human chakra. That makes it toxic even in the most minute amount. Simply it cant heal you. It will kill you rather." She informed. If Naruto had looked closely enough he would have seen that Rei's eyes were wells of sorrow.

Trying to absorb that little bit, he had something to ask.

"That leaves two questions then. First of all, how do I heal when my body is damaged? Secondly how do you heal when your chakra has no healing capabilities?" Naruto voiced aloud, looking somewhat vexed.

"I can answer both, though it is more pressing that I answer your first question."

"How I heal myself?"

"Yes. I think I can say with some degree of certainty that you are not just a simple orphan, but you come from a clan." looking very interested Naruto, gave Rei his undivided attention.

"See if you can work it out from the clues I give you. First off, you have an extreme affinity for fire. Second, your body recovers from incredible damage in almost no time at all, finally when you die; you burst into flame, to be reborn whole again. What creature does that sound like to you?"

"The first two aren't really all that specific, but the last clue; it reminds me of a phoenix." Naruto replied."But that's ridiculous; there isn't a clan of phoenixes."

"There was at one time, before they all died. Apparently you are the last." Rei replied solemnly.

"Died? I though you said that I was immortal."

"You are, phoenixes are not. Not completely, anyway. A phoenix has finite life span. When its natural life is over it simply turns to ash; it's just that they can't be killed in battle. The fact that you are immortal tells me that there is more to your heritage than meets the eye."

Naruto pondered the point for a moment longer. He was about to leave when Rei stopped him.

"Naruto…I…could you…if it isn't too much trouble, could you at all visit or at least talk to me more often?" she stumbled on her words, unsure of how to get her message across, finally being as blunt as possible."

He looked at her for a second and the realised; he had not been to the seal since he was last unconscious, he had barely made use of the mental connection they shared.

"If you don't want anything to do with me, I can understand. I was sealed in you and made your life hell. I can't do anything for you and if I try I end up poisoning you." She said in a rush all the while her head sinking lower to the ground.

He looked at her and felt regret. He had ignored her all this time; he wouldn't let that happen again. He walked through the bars that separated them and put a hand to her front left leg before hugging it. She couldn't believe it. After all the pain she had caused him here he was hugging her leg like he had no issue with her at all.

"Don't you hate me? I have caused you nothing but suffering at every step of your life."

"You explained to me that the attack was not your fault. Every time I see you here, you do nothing but dispel all of the beliefs that I once held about demons. You ask for a friend and some company, you are always polite and have even provided me with some information about my background."

She looked at him appraisingly before making her decision.

"Step back for a second." He looked at her in confusion but obeyed none the less.

A strained look came across her face before she started to shrink, her fur receding into her body, her face shortened and became more rounded, finally the only fur to lengthen was the fur on her head. When the transformation was complete, Naruto was faced with a woman that was 5'6 and had fiery red hair. She was wearing a black kimono with a sliver obi around her waist and a design of a silver fox adorned her back. Her black zori sandals also had silver straps.

While she was dressed modestly, her features were only accentuated by her kimono. Her kimono adequately covered everything yet it was impossible not to notice that she had a somewhat sizeable bust, particularly when Naruto found that he was only at her chest height and that's where his eyes happened to be if he stared straight ahead. With how tightly the obi was tied around her waist it was possible to see that she only had a slender frame, as he surveyed her whole body. Her body tapered down from her slender shoulders to her waist before flaring out again for her hips, giving her a full figured appearance. When he looked at her face he was captivated, her alabaster skin looked so beautifully smooth and her features just seemed…perfect. She had high cheek bones and a slender face. Her eyes were big and the most entrancing shade of blood red, captivating him as though he were her prey.

He was snapped out of his mind's wanderings when he felt her arms snake around his body and envelop him in a hug. They stayed like that for a while before Naruto realised that his shoulder was quite wet and he could just barely make out Rei saying 'thank you' over and over.

He pulled himself from her grasp and looked at her.

"Thank you? Thank you for what?"

"For not hating me, for not leaving me here alone, for understanding." All he could do was smile; he didn't really have anything appropriate to say.

"Do you…could you ever find it within you to forgive me?"

"There isn't a need. There is nothing to forgive. Everything was out of your control. You were ordered here by a god; not something that you can really go against. An Uchiha sent you into the rage, you weren't in control of yourself. The Yondaime sealed you into me, something I'm sure you never asked for. And the villagers, well they are just blind. They have been told the truth; most have disregarded it and come to their own conclusions, albeit in correct ones."

She looked at him once more, fresh tears springing forth. She hugged him once more and cried while he simply returned the hug, nothing more was said for quite some time.

All good things had to come to an end. Both Naruto and Rei realised that they couldn't stay like this for too much longer. Before leaving Rei reminded Naruto of her request.

"You will still speak to me won't you, even while you're not here? Or even visit me once in a while?"

"Don't worry, I won't forget." Naruto promised her, he was disappointed with himself for having abandoned her in this way, vowing never to do it again.

-0-

He awoke with a start. He took a deep breathe through his nose to find the pleasant aroma of cooking food wafting through the air; he could make out bacon and eggs. Walking down stairs he saw Tsunami at the stove tending to the food, Tazuna, Kakashi and Zabuza were all sitting around the table. Naruto froze, what the hell was Zabuza doing here? He observed the situation before being called out of his hiding place by Kakashi.

"Naruto relax, it's alright. You were unconscious for only three days and many things happened.."

"So fill me in."

"Well after Haku knocked you out she came and helped Zabuza to fight me. After a short exchange I managed to gain the upper hand and was in position to kill Haku."

"They are not the same thing Kakashi." Zabuza snarled.

"Yes they are. If you didn't back off then Haku would have died." Naruto interjected.

"Well any way that was when Ga…" Kakashi continued only to be interrupted midsentence. Realising that this was going to be quite a heated exchange Kakashi stopped his story to save it for later and prepared to step in if necessary.

"She is merely a tool used for killing. If the tool can't kill or is broken then it is useless to me."

"She is human before that. She said that she has her own dreams. I really hate to question them, but when she says 'to live and serve my precious person' I wonder who gave her that dream. If she hadn't referred to you as somebody precious I would have said you placed it there." Naruto countered angrily.

"She had no life before me, so what does it matter if I use her life how I please."

"If a person gave you a hammer and told you it was to be used as a spade, would you dig?" Naruto asked coldly.

"What? No, that's just stupid."

"My point exactly. You have given her a purpose in life, THE WRONG PURPOSE." Naruto was now yelling. "She hates killing, yet she does it for you; because that is the purpose you gave her. Give her a reason to live, a different one." Naruto finished in a far softer tone.

Zabuza was regarding Naruto carefully.

"Even if I wanted to; I can't. If I were to give her a different purpose she would die. I need someone that will kill. Otherwise they will get in my way and only slow me down. Being hunted does not give me that luxury" Zabuza stated, trying to Naruto to understand the life of a nuke-nin.

"Then settle down in a different village." Naruto replied hopefully.

"Boy, there isn't a village on earth that would take me in. I am a high ranking criminal. Kakashi is putting a lot on the line by even letting me live this long."

Naruto looked at his sensei and asked the question outright.

"What did he do that could be so bad?"

"There are many reasons why not to accept me. The most pressing and the one that resulted in my branding as a nuke-nin was that I tried to kill my kage."

Naruto's eyes widened.

'He tried to kill the leader of his own village?'

Kakashi broke into the conversation, trying to help Naruto grasp the situation easier.

"Naruto, if Leaf takes him in, then it is almost an open invitation to war."

Realising what he had suggested, Naruto looked considerably subdued.

Kakashi realised that this was the time to finish his story after there was no more argument between the two.

"OK as I was saying, Gato appeared when I had my sword to Haku's neck and effectively fired Zabuza. You were…you were killed, beheaded, by Gato's men. Only to burst into flame and be made whole again." Kakashi was incredibly interested in how that happened, but knew better than to ask in front of potential enemies. They may have reached a truce, but Zabuza was a loose cannon. "Lets talk about this later."

He left to ponder the situation. Zabuza, himself had been given quite a lot to think about.

-0-

Naruto found his teammates, Haku and Inari lazing around in the forest near the house. His teammates had been given time off to recuperate from the past few days. They all smiled at him when he arrived and Inari ran up and tackled him to the ground in a hug.

"Naruto-niichan is awake!" he practically yelled into Naruto's stomach.

Naruto pried himself free of Inari's grip and went to greet his two teammates. Sakura went and hugged him.

"You…died." it was still very hard for her to say that her teammate had died "When you died, I couldn't believe it. Don't ever make us worry like that again; otherwise I might make you regret coming back." all with watery eyes.

"Sasuke-chan; I'm sorry."

Haku's reaction was perhaps the strongest, strangest and most unexpected. She slapped him her across the cheek; Sakura and Sasuke's eyes bulged at the treatment.

"That was for dying and causing me so much pain; for leaving me when I had finally found someone that understood my pain and someone to share the burden with." She said with a steely look in her eyes. He gaze softened before continuing.

"And this is for coming back to me…us." She corrected herself before placing a kiss on the cheek that she had slapped. Naruto blushed from the roots of his hair to the line where his body disappeared into is shirt.

"Well I never thought I'd see the day you turned into a walking tomato. Hmmm…tomatoes." Sasuke mused

"Shut it you moron." Was the only response Naruto could think of in his flustered state. Haku just giggled at their antics.

"Tsunami-san is cooking, so we may as well go ad have something to eat. It should be ready by now. They all trekked back to the house and got something to eat. The rest of the day was spent talking and lazing about. It was decided that they would move out the next day giving Naruto one more day of recovery.

The next morning nearly the entire village sent them off on their way back to Konoha. It was quite an emotional scene for Inari, who felt as though he was losing yet another person that he held dear.

"Don't worry, I'll visit every once in a while." Naruto assured the young boy on the verge of tears.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

-0-

A short while out of the village they ran into Zabuza and Haku. Zabuza was the first to speak and cut straight to business.

"Kakashi, I have a favour to ask. I want you to take Haku back to Konoha with you."

The request shocked everyone present, including Haku. She looked at him like she had been mortally wounded.

"Am I no longer useful?" she asked plainly

"You are still useful Haku. But sooner or later the weapon will be without a master and then you will be back to square one." While he talked as he always had Kakashi and Haku noticed the changed look in his eyes, not the hard look he always bore, but a softer look. Haku looked at him and asked

"What will you do without me?"

"I am going to die." He said without hesitation. Haku gave him a shocked look and was about to protest when she saw him remove his head band and give them his kubikiri honcho. Haku caught on. A look of understanding swept across Kakashi's face and then he said

"Well thank you for helping us in killing Zabuza…" Kakashi left it open for him to fill in his new name, before he could respond Haku thought of one for him.

"Taro…Taro Momo." She said with a slight smile around her lips, Naruto sniggered. Zabuza thought about it and then surprisingly agreed.

"Fine, Taro Momo it is. If you ever want to find me again look me up as Nami's new guardian."

"Why can't Haku-san stay with you and help guard wave?" Sakura asked. Zabuza cast a quick glance at Naruto before answering.

"To find a purpose other than killing. I can't provide her with that."

He received a quick nod of acknowledgment from Naruto and a good bye hug from Haku before the group turned around to head home.

The trip back was completely uneventful save for the idle banter between the five on the way home. Naruto was dipping in and out of the conversations, only responding when he was addressed directly. He was actually talking to Rei on the way home.

'You mentioned some of the phoenixes traits when I was at the seal last time. Is there anything else I should know; about anything.'

'There are quite a few things that you need to be made aware of now; it will all come in good time. But if you mean about any other traits of the phoenixes, I'm afraid I don't know all of their abilities. After all, they are probably well guarded secrets.'

'I see. Actually when I was last at the seal you also said that you could answer the reason why you don't need to heal yourself when you get damaged in battle.'

'Yes, that's right, I did say that. Well basically the reason being is that I can't be damaged.'

'Can't be damaged?'

'Not in the true sense of the word, no. You see you and I are fundamentally different. While we are both immortal, but you are alive, I am not.'

'Wait, what? If you aren't alive then how do you exist, and do anything that the rest of us do such as interact with our environment?'

'Naruto, I am merely a mass of chakra condensed into a physical form and have a mind of my own. It takes a lot of chakra to make it physical. You saw how large I am in my fox form. Between you Kakashi and Zabuza at full power you still wouldn't have enough to form a complete leg.'

Naruto remained silent, understanding just how much chakra any of the demons possessed.

'I thought that the more tails you had in the demon world the more chakra and the higher your ranking.'

'Correct. If it takes that much chakra to make a leg, think about the amount it takes to make a tail. The truth is that when we have more than what is necessary to make a standard body they get turned into tails for convenience. Useful for battle. Plus, extra legs would look rather…unsightly. Many of your species measure power by how much chakra they have. In this sense we are merely power with an attached soul, a living weapon if you will. '

It really was mind numbing stuff. He remained silent from all conversations for the rest of the trip home, trying to get his head around what he had just heard. It also left a few questions. Rei described herself as power with a soul. Why would Kami send someone like that to be my companion for eternity? Why not send a person who was alive instead of what could essentially be classed as a weapon? Not that he would ever regard Rei in that way after berating Zabu…Taro about it. No matter how much he pondered these two points he couldn't come up with an answer.

'If you are chakra, than how come you appear as a fox?'

'That is simple enough. I appear that way because I have a sort of connection to foxes. It's not really anything solid, I just find myself drawn to the image of a fox, in the same way that I envisage my human appearance. That is why I appear as I do.'

-0-

They all arrived at village after a few of days of traveling. Their first stop was the Hokage tower after getting clearance to enter the village from the guards.

"Hokage-sama, Team Seven reporting back after an A rank mission to Wave Country." Kakashi announced as he entered the office with his team.

The Hokage and Iruka, who was in the office helping with paperwork, gave him a quizzical look.

"Care to repeat that, I fear I may have misheard you." He requested.

"Team Seven reporting back from their A rank mission to Wave Country."

"Explain." It was more of an order than a request.

"Well, not long after leaving we were ambushed by the Demon Brothers, the nuke-nin from Kiri. It came to light that Tazuna had deceived us and that he was marked as dead by Gato, the shipping magnate. Well, as we traveled further we encountered Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist. He and I did battle, resulting in my victory. Before I could kill him his apprentice, Haku, saved him by posing as an oi-nin and putting him in a near death trance using senbon. She took his body away for 'disposal'. A mere 5 days later he confronted us on the bridge Tazuna was working on and rematched against us. Before either master or apprentice could be killed Gato appeared with an army, putting the fight to a premature end." Kakashi eyed the Hokage waiting for the reaction when he broke the next piece of news.

"When he arrived, he saw Naruto unconscious on the ground and ordered one of his samurai to behead Naruto. It was over in an instant, Naruto's head was lopped clean of his body."

From his vantage point Iruka could not see Naruto. He spat out his coffee and yelled at Kakashi.

"How can you act so calmly when one of your students is dead?"

"Iruka sensei, I'm right here." Naruto reassured.

"But… He said you're dead!"

"Well, if I may continue, Naruto burst into flame, a flame intense enough to kill all those around him. When the flames died down Naruto was left at the centre, his body reformed."

By now Sarutobi was rubbing his temple, trying to filter through what he had just heard and avoid a massive headache. Whilst Naruto was imagining how cool it would have been if he had seen it.

"So what happened to Zabuza in the end? I see his sword. Did he die?"

"Iruka I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." Kakashi asked.

Iruka gave him a patient look almost as if asking for some sort of an explanation.

"What I'm about to tell the Hokage is confidential and the less people that I put in danger with this secret the better." Giving an understanding nod Iruka walked out.

"Please call me back when you are done."

"We will. ANBU, you have a five minute break." The Hokage assured before dismissing his ANBU.

Once everyone had gone Kakashi continued.

"He discarded his identity as the Demon of the Mist. He is now guarding Nami no Kuni. We took his sword and head band as evidence seeing as we can't really take his head. Haku has decided to resettle in Konoha to pursue a different life style"

"I see. Call Iruka and the ANBU back in." Iruka walked in, the ANBU were nowhere to be seen. Sarutobi had long since given up on trying to ward off his headache and it was about to intensify in a short while.

"And this is Haku I presume?"

"Yes sir." Haku responded

"Well, what do you seek in the Hidden Leaf? To become a member of our ninja ranks? You could easily do so with Kakashi's recommendation."

"If at all possible, I'd like to study to be a hospital medic-nin."

"It can be arranged. Perhaps you would like to work with Sakura? She is also training to be an iryou-nin, though with a field speciality." Not seeing any objections he decided to arrange it for later.

"Neko-san, please take Haku-san to the hotel nearest to Konoha General Hospital and check her in. Tell the attendant that I will sort out payment for the first two weeks."

An ANBU in battle armour and a cat mask appeared and beckoned Haku towards the door.

"Very well everyone but Naruto is dismissed. That includes the ANBU and you Iruka." Everybody trudged out of the office, Iruka could be heard grumbling something like '…calling us in and then dismissing us two minutes later…'. Kakashi waited just outside the door while everyone left.

"Naruto I have something for you. This was entrusted to me to give to you. I had not planned on giving them to you this early, but after the events in Wave, perhaps you will find answers in these."

Sarutobi handed Naruto two scrolls, both addressed to him.

Naruto opened the scrolls and started reading. First to be opened was the one that had rougher writing, leaving the scroll that bore writing more similar to calligraphy for later.

_Naruto,_

_If you are reading this then the first thing I should do is congratulate you on becoming a genin. This scroll is the only message that I can leave you as by the time you do read it I will be long dead._

_My name is Minato Namikaze, better known as the Yondaime Hokage. Now that you know this I must first apologise to you for the burden I left you with you. In case you are not aware, I did not kill the Kyuubi, I merely sealed it into a baby; you. I am sorry to have left you with such a burden, but the only person I could ever truly trust was my own family, my own flesh and blood._

_Naruto, I am your father. Please know that your parents did not abandon you, we both died before you could even meet us._

_The seal I used to seal the Kyuubi into you calls forth Shinigami. As such, I am required to give my life in exchange for his services. Your mother's soul and my soul are tied together by a marriage pact. When my soul enters the belly of the Shinigami, so will hers._

_This marriage, the pact is no ordinary pact. It is the pact of my clan and yours; the dragon clan. The dragon clan is an ancient clan originating from the borders of Suna and Iwa. I will not include too much information in this letter as everything you need to know will be in the clan scroll sealed in this scroll. _

_Your loving father,_

_Minato Namikaze_

_Yondaime Hokage_

Naruto's eyes were burning with tears by now. Not from sorrow, but from anger. Rage, he felt white hot rage.

"This scroll. It was supposed to be given to me when I graduated and became a genin." He looked at Sarutobi with nothing short of pure rage. Sarutobi had thought he had seen all of Naruto's emotions, but this was different. "WHY DID YOU KEEP THIS FROM ME?" he roared at Sarutobi. Kakashi entered the room in a flash.

"Naruto are you OK?"

'Naruto, read the other letter before you start anything. Perhaps it may explain his actions.' It was Rei's voice that pierced through his clouded mind and caused him to calm down slightly. He cast his eyes back to the scroll, but not before telling Kakashi what was going on.

"Hokage-sama has withheld a letter from my parents that was supposed to have been passed to me on my graduation from the academy to a genin." Kakashi remained silent, unsure what to say.

_Naruto,_

_I regret to tell you that by the time you read this scroll, I too will be long gone like your father. _

_My name is Kushina Uzumaki. Please forgive the both of us with the curse we have left you. When your father suggested that we seal the fox into you I refused, not wanting to damn you to such a torture. Please know that when your father mentioned it to me he looked most sorrowful, he had no other choice; the fox was just far too powerful for us to kill._

_Like your father, I too belong to a clan; the Phoenix clan. The many things that you must know are detailed in the clan scroll that I left for you. The one thing that I must mention now is that when phoenixes die we burst into flame. This flame is so intense that it consumes nearly all the oxygen in the area and renders nearly anything to ash. Please be aware of that._

_As a final message from the both of us, know that we loved you deeply and that your parents never abandoned you._

_Your loving mother,_

_Kushina Uzumaki Namikaze_

He took several deep breaths to try to calm himself down; it failed completely.

'Rei-san, there is nothing there that excuses him.'

'I know Naruto-san. I won't interfere.'

He gave both of the scrolls to Kakashi to read while he spoke to the Hokage.

"I'll ask again. Why did you keep those from me?"

"Naruto you have to understand my line of thinking. Your father was a hero here, but considered a villain in Iwa. I feared that you would want to take on his name as soon as you found out. Then every assassination squad from Iwa, and even their allies Kumo, would be after your life. I couldn't put you in such danger."

The Naruto, Sarutobi's defence was as feeble a new born baby.

"You could have told me and gone hard line that I couldn't take the name until I had earned it, or until I was truly ready to take on his enemies. Do you have any idea how many times I have wondered who my parents were? Whether they died in Rei's attack? Whether they abandoned me because of the sealing?"

"I still stand by what I said. It could have been dangerous."

"I'm not sure which one insults me more." The Hokage looked at him wondering what he was talking about. He was not left in doubt for very long as Naruto explained himself.

"I'm not sure whether you thinking so little of me is my main point of frustration or whether it's the fact that you ignored my father's last wish. A man who was entrusted with the wellbeing of this village; a man that you handpicked over your own student to become Hokage. Did you really have such little faith in him?"

Sarutobi's jaw slackened at the different point of view. He had noticed Kakashi had finished reading the letter and looked to him for some support. When he saw the cold look that was being returned he realised that he would receive none.

"The one thing that I cannot truly forgive you for is putting my teammates at risk."

"I never put anyone at risk." Sarutobi answered hotly. It was one thing to have your faults pointed out by a genin; it was another to be accused of something he had never done.

"No? You heard the report. Think about what would have happened if I had died standing next to my teammates. They would have been reduced to ashes along with the surrounding area."

It was strange to see the Hokage, a man one referred to as the Professor of shinobi, squirm under the furious gaze of one of his subordinates.

"I wasn't to know that would happen. You can't hold me responsible for everything."

"No you weren't to know, but my mother did. That is why both my mother and father stated that the scrolls were to be given when I became a genin. They knew the risk of dying would increase as I started my shinobi career."

Sarutobi looked as though he had a sudden epiphany. He had realised what he had done, but feared that this may have put a very heavy dent in his relationship with Naruto.

"I understand. Can you ever forgive me for this?" Sarutobi asked Naruto, almost pleading with him.

"Eventually, I may forgive you; but it will never be forgotten." He said as he walked out. Kakashi followed soon after leaving the old man to his thoughts.

Once out of the Hokage tower Kakashi turned to Naruto.

"What are you going to do now?"

"I think that I'll take the clan scrolls out and read through them. Then I might blow off a little steam in a training session."

Naruto looked at the seals on the scrolls in front of him.

"How do I get these things out exactly?"

"They are probably blood seals, designed so that only you could get the contents inside. All you have to do is swipe some of your blood over the seal and it should release."

Grabbing out a kunai, Naruto sliced his thumb and swiped his blood across the seal on each scroll. With a poof of smoke he was now holding two more coloured scrolls in his hands.

"Here, please take these back home and store them very safely. It wouldn't be good if someone found these." He said to Kakashi handing the letters from his parents to him.

"I'll see you later." Naruto bid Kakashi farewell, not even bothering to look up from the unopened scrolls before he went in the direction of the training grounds.

He had arrived at the most secluded training grounds that he could think of, Training Ground 44. Kakashi said that it was the place that he went to train when he did not want to be disturbed. He said that only a select few people train here and they generally leave you alone.

'Are you going to get straight into training? Or will you look at those scrolls first?' Rei asked.

'I think I'll look into the scrolls first, just to see what my clans were able to do. You're welcome to look in if you feel like; you have access to my thoughts right?'

'Only the ones you give me access to.'

'Well then feel free to join in.'

'Thanks.' in a giddy voice.

He walked up to one of the larger trees growing all through the training ground and perched himself on one of the thicker branches. He opened the clan scrolls the red one first.

_Naruto,_

_The first thing that you need to understand is that this is not the original phoenix clan scroll. This is only what I know of our techniques and abilities. _

_Before I write about our clan techniques and abilities, I feel it is necessary to give you some insight to how we acquired them in the first place. This may be very difficult for you to believe, but as far as I am aware, it is the truth. The abilities of the phoenix clan were granted by the gods themselves. I do not know what it was our clan did to garner favour with the gods, but none-the-less they have seen fit to bestow this power upon us. Both your father and I have tried to research into the matter as his clan is very similar, sadly all our research did not yield a definitive answer. _

_In any case the main point of this document is for me to inform you of the clan abilities and techniques._

_The defining feature of our clan is to burst into flame upon our death. When this flame dies out, the phoenix will be reborn. The only thing that you need to note about this is that everything within a certain distance will be rendered to ashes._

_The next ability is that the water of our body is blessed to have amazing healing qualities. Many thought it was simply our tears that had the healing capabilities. In truth, tears were the most acceptable for of healing an ally. Spitting is disgusting, many find drinking blood repugnant and I will not even discus the problems with using urine. For some reason this ability heals other far faster than it heals ourselves, though our own healing rate is nothing to be sneezed at. Finally these fluids cannot be stored for any substantial period of time; perhaps a day or so at best._

_Arguably the most powerful ability is our gift of using galdrar. A galdrar is a song laced with our chakra that can have many amazing affects. Galdrar are different from techniques in that you cannot simply practice the song, you will only learn them if there is ever a need. As such it is possible to learn all of them, or learn none if you have no need. Galdrar can be extremely exhausting to perform, depending on what is being sung._

_Finally, the phoenixes have a summoning contact. This summons is for phoenixes..._

'Ok…what in the hell? That is just plain screwed up. Hey Rei, what do you make of that last part?'

'No offense, but it seems stupid to summon one of your clan when you have the same abilities.'

'None taken and I agree with you.' Naruto replied, forgiving the minor insult to his clan.

_...This summoning contract is far different from every other contract you may be familiar with. Phoenixes die of old age, a point where we will not be reincarnated. Once we die, our spirits join the summoning scroll and we attain our phoenix form. To summon the phoenixes, simply sign the contract in blood and perform the hands signs dog, boar, monkey, bird, ram then slam your hand on the ground and greet the summon. I should mention that the boss is Tobifushicho, one of our ancestors and a phoenix of epic proportions... _

'Well that explains a fair bit.' Naruto thought to Rei.

'Indeed it does. Very unusual though. Souls that have died are destined to spend eternity in either hell or heaven, depending on their actions here on earth. What intrigues me is how your clan could have avoided this.'

'There is more things that concerns me than I'm used to. Why couldn't I have just been a normal shinobi or teenage boy working at the local food store?'

'Because that would be boring. You'd get bored so easily and cause mischief for your employer.'

'I suppose.'

_...Finally, the phoenixes have a taijutsu style that we practice. This style can be practiced by anyone and it does not utilise any of our other capabilities, this style is called Reikoku Ken-ryuu. The style's underpinning is to use the power of rotation to add force to the blows dealt to the opponent; all the while using the same rotation to be able to evade or reduce the force any strikes against you. The basic stance is for the…_

'Not reading any further?' Rei asked.

'I have more than enough to think through, though a new taijutsu style would be better than the current one. Perhaps I can combine it with the academy style. Besides there is a jutsu that I want to work on and I haven't got it yet after kami knows how many months of practicing.'

'You're talking about the bunshin bakuhatsu(exploding clone)?'

'Yeah. When I saw it in the forbidden scroll all those months ago I loved the idea, but I still can't get it.'

'Did the scroll say what to do?'

"Sure. All it said I had to do was make the kage bunshin with a little extra chakra, then make the Ram seal and order it to detonate. Once I'm good enough I'm supposed to be able to do it without the hand sign, just the command. So far I can only make the clone, but it detonates as soon as it appears.'

'Show me.' Rei commanded.

He created the clone; it appeared right next to him only for a short moment before

BOOM

Naruto went flying and a good 15 meters of the forest was now levelled into a small crater.

"Urgh! That hurt like hell." Naruto voiced his pain out aloud

'So, you're putting in the extra chakra and it's exploding as soon as it is performed? Then try making an ordinary clone.'

Naruto complied, awaiting further instructions.

'Now command it to explode.'

Naruto didn't even give it a second thought; he put his hands together in the ram and commanded his clone to explode…unfortunately he had forgotten to move away.

"Katsu!" The clone exploded sending him flying once more crashing into the trunk of a tree while leaving another crater in the ground.

"Should've thought to move before I tried that." He groaned through his pain. "Hey how did that work."

'I'm gonna go off of an assumption and say that when you form clones you form them with enough chakra to make them exploding clones anyway. When you command the clone to explode it use the chakra that returns to your body to destabilise the rest of the chakra in the clone and make it explode violently instead of gently returning to nature.'

'Wait…charka returns to my body? Destabilise chakra? What are you going on about?'

'Haven't you ever noticed that when you create a clone you gain some of the clone's memories?' Naruto remained silent indicating that he was waiting for Rei to continue. 'I suppose it's because you always use them to help you with a task and your concentration is always on the same thing. In any case, how you suppose that is possible? Think about what I am.'

'What are you?' He asked rhetorically. 'You are a soul with chakra attached; you described yourself as a weapon. The kage bunshin in its most basic sense is also a weapon. Does that mean that all my clones have a soul attached?'

'Nearly. They all have a fragment of your soul, so when they disperse some of the chakra and the fragment of your soul returns to you, giving you the experiences of that soul. I'm guessing the reason that all your clones don't explode is because you are not using the chakra that returns to you to destabilise the rest of the clone and get it to explode.' Rei explained.

'Wait, by using exploding clones does that mean that I'm losing pieces of my soul?'

'Perhaps I didn't explain that too well. Lets see.. You know chakra is made up of spiritual energy and physical energy. Consider your soul as part of the spiritual energy, and that mental energy is included. As mentioned, the clone is nothing more than chakra with a soul attached. If you simply disperse it, the spiritual energy is returned to you whole; that's why you receive memories. If you make the clone explode, only the soul returns, just as a human dies and his soul leaves to the afterlife. Simply, all you are doing is completely removing all of the attached chakra and causing the clone to explode. The soul fragment comes back to you regardless; it's just that you don't regain any chakra from the technique either.'

'Oh, I see.' Naruto sighed, considerably relieved that he wasn't losing his soul.

'Now, I've just thought of a brilliant game that you can play to work on both you exploding clones and that new taijutsu in your mother's scroll.'

Naruto picked up the scroll and began reading from where he left off.

_...The basic stance for Reikoku Ken-ryuu changes depending on which direction you wish to rotate. The direction of rotation is determined by two things; the preference of the user and the fighting of the opponent. An opponent that fight primarily using left sided strike will be more evaded and countered by a right to left spin. The inverse is also true and a person attacking with their right is better countered with a left to right spin._

'I see. So you're supposed to use pivots to simply evade the opponent and then strike by using the power of the pivot to strengthen the blow.' Rei surmised to Naruto.

'I get that much but how is the bunshin bakuhatsu going to help with learning this style?'

'Simple. You create one and have it come at you. I assume the clones can either be innervated by you to explode or can do so on their own choosing as they do have a part of your soul attached to make decisions for themselves. You will be trying to avoid its attacks because if you don't then you know the result.'

Naruto's eyes widened and realised what she was talking about, then that same uncanny grin came across his face and he set to work.

-00-

BOOM

"Argh! God dammit! That's the eighth explosion in the last 20 minutes. Can't I ever get any peace and quiet around here?" A woman screamed after hearing yet another explosion in the otherwise peaceful forest.

BOOM

Another explosion was heard not 5 minutes later.

"That does it! When I find the shit that is responsible for this I'm gonna feed him to my snakes." The woman donned her tan coloured trench coat that was resting on a nearby tree branch before setting out.

She silently leapt through the trees hearing another two explosions in the 10 minutes that she was searching for her prey. When she came to an area that seemed almost levelled she knew she had found her destination. She watched silently as boy with blonde hair waring an orange jumpsuit fought, or rather tried to evade a clone. He was spinning out of all of the attacks that the clone was sending his way.

'What the hell is he doing? I've been watching him for what 6 minutes and he has completely ignored all of the openings.' Then the clone made contact and

BOOM

The boy was sent flying through the forest to crash into the tree that the woman was perched on.

'I get it now; he's training in evasion. Now that is just my style, training with a risk of death.' The woman thought, all anger within forgotten.

She leaped down from her perch and approached the kid who was about to create another exploding clone.

"Hey kid!" Naruto looked around and spotted a purple haired woman with a tan trench coat, miniskirt and not much else on. "How 'bout a training partner?"

"Why would you do that?" Naruto asked cautiously; it wasn't often that people he didn't know offered to help him unless they had their own agenda.

"Two reasons A) the explosions are annoying, B) I feel like beating up on something." Well she had said it; she didn't hide the fact that she wanted to beat him to a pulp.

'Naruto, take the opportunity. Because she can't explode she can give chase after she hits you. It will give you to chance to practice on countering after being knocked down.'

Naruto grinned at Rei's logic before addressing the woman.

"Before we start, what's your name?

"Anko Mitarashi. And you?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." A look of recognition passed over Anko's face before she settled into a fighting stance.

"Now that the pleasantries are over, let's begin." And begin they did. Before Naruto even had a chance to begin his rotation she was already upon him. She delivered an earth shattering punch to his jaw, tilting his head back putting it in the prime position for a punch to the throat. Naruto saw the fist coming and did the first this that came to his head 'pivot'.

He spun around the right cross and attempted to use a back fist when she ducked out of the line of attack. While she was down low she went for a strike to the ribs, he didn't stop pivoting all the while and brought his left knee to her head, making full contact. She dropped to the ground in a daze and he planted both knees between her should blades, keeping her pinned.

"Well I win the first round." He said to her with some glee in his voice. Anko wore a maniacal grin and simply replied.

"I guess I underestimated you." Before escaping then disappearing and then reappearing right next to Naruto.

Screams of pain could be heard all across the forest along with raucous cackling from another revelling in the first person's pain.

Some hours later we find Anko dropping an unconscious and heavily battered Naruto at the Konoha General Hospital. He was taken to his own personal room and seen to by Megumi.

Megumi looked over Naruto with a simple scanning jutsu before turning to Anko.

"What in the hell happened? He has more broken ribs than I'd care to count and some severe bruising on his body and arms."

"Well that's what happens when a genin tries to fight a jounin." Anko replied casually.

"WHAT?" Megumi screeched, apoplectic with rage.

"Relax, I offered to help him to train. I underestimated him a little and he landed blow to the head, damn good one to. Well I couldn't have him getting cocky so I started going pretty hard."

"Trust Naruto to bite off more than he can chew."

"I wouldn't say more than he could chew." Anko corrected. He was landing a few hits after a while. It's almost as if he was improving with what he was doing there and then."

Shaking her head she stopped talking to Anko and started healing the boy of his injuries. Anko took this as her cue to leave and did exactly that.

Naruto awoke to the look of a white roof.

'The hospital.' He thought dully.

'That woman was incredibly powerful.'

'You're telling me. I thought she was gonna kill me. At least she didn't leave me there.' He mentally replied to his tenant.

"Ah, you're up. Well that's unexpected. You were only out for little over a day." It was Megumi that had just entered the room, this time with her two students.

"Don't worry, I've told Kakashi-sensei. He knows that your here." Sakura assured her teammate.

"Cheers. I got knocked silly by Anko-san."

"Well how do you feel?" Sakura asked.

"Better after a night's recovery."

"Not physically. How do you feel letting a chick beat you. Damage your pride any?" she smirked, she was only teasing.

"Well it wouldn't be the first time that it's happened. How about you ask Sasuke that. We shared the first time together." He replied white giving a pointed look in Haku's direction. Haku looked slightly sheepish.

"To be fair Anko-san is a jounin. It was to be expected." The group remained silent.

"Naruto, I'm going to let Haku perform the scanning jutsu on you while Sakura can practice her shosen jutsu to heal any minor wounds that might be left. You're pretty much healed anyway." Megumi informed, giving her apprentices the chance to practice as the remaining damage to Naruto was minimal.

Haku went through a few hand seals before her hand started glowing green. She started at his head and moved her way lower until she had scanned his entire body.

"Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary." She said to her sensei.

Megumi repeated the same process just in case she had missed something.

"Good work Haku-san, correct. Naruto you are free to leave, but try to stay out of trouble."

"Thank you Megumi-san. Haku, I know your busy here like Sakura, but maybe you could come out to our team practices and meet the rest of the gang."

"Thank you, Naruto-san. It would be nice to make more friends in a new village."

With that Naruto left the hospital to return to his secluded training spot.

'Thinking of reading through the other scroll today?'

'No secrets from you are there Rei-san? Well there is that, but there is also something else that I want to try.'

'Why so full of mysteries? You're not allowing me access to what you have planned. Though I must say that I am curious about your father's scroll and what it contains.'

A short while later

Naruto has once again made his way back to the section of Training Ground 44 that he had destroyed the previous day.

'Well time to see what this one has to say.' as he took out the yellow scroll.

'Indeed. This should be interesting.' Rei replied.

_Naruto,_

_In this scroll, I listed the dragon clan techniques as best I can. This is written in my hand writing because it is seen as a point of pride to be able to pass down the clan history by word of mouth to one's own children. Being unable to do that I had to write everything out that I could think of._

_The first thing that you need to be aware of is that dragons do not die of old age. We only die through a mortal wound and we do not age beyond a certain point..._

'Well that explains my immortality. Resurrection from any mortal wound along with healing bodily fluids from the phoenixes.'

'And eternal life and youth from the dragons.'

'Well, let's see what else I can do.' all with a grin

_...The next and most important thing to consider is your shape-shifting ability. All members of the dragon clan are able to shift their form into that of a dragon. In this form your body is far more powerful than it was in your human form. It is also far more resistant to physical battering and elemental jutsu, with one exception. When we shift into our dragon forms the metal ions in our bodies rearrange themselves to form a solid metal lattice. Only the most intense of flame can burn, or more accurately melt you. Earth water and wind jutsu are also near useless unless they have the ability to put your body under extreme pressure, I'm talking centre of the earth pressure._

_The major drawback is lighting jutsu. Because your body is now made of mostly metal with a sensory system; it is easy to understand how lightning jutsu could pose such a threat. In this form even the most basic of lightening jutsu will feel like a bolt of lightning. This leaves little doubt that a mid-high level raiton jutsu could kill you._

_To actually transform you need to focus on the call to actually transform. It will be present after battling for a time; you will feel a pull to become more primal, for want of a better word. You are a special case, I just hope that you do not confuse this calling with the Kyuubi's bloodlust and unleash something truly terrifying..._

'Something that you will never have to worry about, Naruto-san.' Rei assured Naruto.

_...Your mother may have mentioned this in her letter, but this as all possible by the graces of the gods. When we were searching for answers we came across some information that led us to want to investigate a place called the Hall of Eight Fathoms. _

_If you truly seek answers as we do then this is the place that you must search._

_There is one other place that you must go to. It is the home place of the dragons located in the mountain range between Kaze no Kuni and Iwa no Kuni. There you can meet with the first leaders of the dragon clan and from them you may learn the sword style passed down through the dragon clan; Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu._

_There is one other reason to meet with them. To be considered the clan head you must be tested and deemed worthy by one of the past clan heads on your sixteenth birthday. This is the only way to be considered the true clan head._

_My final testament to you is the summoning of the dragon clan. This summoning is something that I hope that you never have to use for it summons the Shinigami. The price for summoning the Shinigami is high. Depending on what you require of it and what is done it may take your very soul from your body. This is only to be used as a last resort. The hand signs for this justu are different to the usual summoning. They are snake, boar, ram, rabbit, dog, rat, bird, horse and snake._

_As I said use this only as a last resort and good luck in mastering your dragon form._

'Well even more to think about. Do you have any idea what is in this Hall of Eight Fathom place?'

"I know exactly what it is, but it will require some back story for me to explain.'

'I don't mind listening.'

'You may or may not know the creation story of our world; it was long disregarded as just a tale and nothing more; nothing could be further from the truth. The story says that before there was anything there was simply chaos, without form and without any real definition. From the chaos the plain emerged that we now know as heaven. In time three deities were born Ame-no-Minaka-Nushi-no-Mikoto (the Deity-of-the-August-Centre-of-Heaven) Takami-Musubi-no-Mikoto (the High-August-Producing-Wondrous-Deity), and Kammi-Musubi-no-Mikoto (the Divine-Producing-Wondrous-Deity). These three deities are collectively known as the creation deities. They gave rise to the two beings called Izanagi and Izanami, who were then gifted with Ama-no-Nuboko a spear that was used to create the elemental countries as you know them today.'

'Ok, I've never heard the story, but how does it fit into the place my parents wanted to go and find?'

'I'm getting to that. After their work was done and the world was formed they erected a pillar that was in honour of the creation deities, the Heavenly August Pillar. Wishing to become married they wound themselves around the pillar and performed a marriage ritual, only it was performed incorrectly and all the children that Izanami gave birth to were disgusting and vile travesties of nature, left to die.'

'How was the marriage ceremony performed incorrectly' Rei smiled at the insightful question as it was about to be answered by the next part of the tale.

'Upon conferring with the gods as to what went wrong, they were told that at the start of the ceremony Izanami was the first to speak and as the woman she should have waited for Izanagi to speak first. This impropriety caused their malformed children. They repeated the ceremony and then Izanami gave birth to all of the different kami.'

'All the different ones? I thought that there was only one.'

'There is one and there are many. They are the different kami that are parts of the one whole Kami. In any case, after they had finished giving birth to the kami, Izanagi and Izanami built the Hall of Eight Fathoms around the Heavenly August Pillar'

'So the Hall of Eight Fathoms is the place that houses the Heavenly August Pillar.'

'Yes. It is said to be the only place that a mortal can actually converse with the gods directly.'

'Man this is a serious head fuck. I need some time to think that over. In the mean time I'm going to try that thing that I wanted to try.' Rei remained silent knowing that he would tell her if he had gone to the trouble of blocking her access to these thoughts.

Naruto put his hands into the cross shaped seal that he used for his kage bunshin jutsu.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" He announced. As soon as the smoke cleared there was Rei standing in all her glory in the forest with Naruto.

'How the hell did you just do that?'

**-0-**

**A/N: Cuuuuuuttt!**

OK crappy place to end I know, but if I go beyond this point I will have to write WAY more than should be allowed for a single chapter.

Now aside from me saying that his abilities are gifts from the Gods, you should realise that part of this is to not simply accept that as a fact, but to find out why the gods gave those clans that gift.

The small creation myth in the chapter was actually based on one of the different variations of an actual creation myth, tweaked for my purposes. To that end, if I have offended anybody by changing the creation myth then I am sincerely sorry.

Finally I'd like to apologise for the long wait. School definitely is a bitch! I will try to update again soon, this time no exact time period.

Next On The Eternal Chimera:

Rei and Naruto meet some people. Will it bode well for them both?

Till later, a little advice; if you'll do anything stupid, do it with a distinctive and stylish elegance. Make it original!

-kamizle


	7. Journey

**AN: **Hello! I'm Baaaaaccck! It didn't feel right to leave y'all without a Christmas present. Well i'm currently enjoying the longest vacation i've had in a while(its only three weeks but why should i complain?) and i decided to upload this.

Read and tell me what you think.

On with it!

**Chapter Seven: Journey**

'How the hell did you just do that?' Rei thought to Naruto. Naruto just stood there not answering; then it hit her.

'I'm no longer inside Naruto so we no longer share the link.' Voicing her question out loud so that he could hear she asked again.

"How am I outside of the seal?" her voice held utter disbelief.

Naruto gave her a foxy grin that was so characteristic of him before answering. "You gave me hints about what I needed to do. It was actually because of my conversations with you that this is possible."

"Really? How so?" she was genuinely intrigued. She couldn't distinctly remember a conversation that would have help circumvent a seal placed by a god.

"Well, the first was that you said that you were chakra with a soul attached. The second thing was when you helped me understand the nature of a kage bunshin. In all essence you and it are fundamentally the same."

Rei was nodding, telling Naruto that she was listening and understanding what he was talking about.

"The final part was to realise what it was exactly that the seal actually sealed."

Rei looked thoughtful before realising what he was talking about.

"My chakra and my soul."

"Exactly. If the seal could allow either one of us to force your chakra through it, then there also had to be the possibility that I could also let out your soul."

"So then you created a bunshin with your chakra and my soul. It took on my form because that is what my soul most strongly identifies with." Naruto only nodded in agreement as a response.

Naruto looked thoughtful before voicing his question. "What would happen if we tried to use both your chakra and your soul?"

They looked at each other before Rei offered her opinion.

"It isn't something worth considering. Remember, my chakra poisons you. Even if it can't actually kill you, there is no need to put yourself through anything unnecessary."

She paused slightly before walking over.

"And besides, I'm more than grateful that you could get this far." She said, pecking him on the cheek as a reward before taking the time to look around and experience everything around her. Naruto simply turned into a walking tomato after the kiss and was glad that Rei's attention was elsewhere.

"So what now?" Rei asked, unsure of what to do with her new found freedom.

Naruto looked thoughtful before piping up.

"How bout taking a walk around the village? That way you can experience everything for yourself instead of through me. "

"I would like that."

"Um…maybe we should put you into a henge. If anyone asks I can just say that you're a friend."

"Why can't I be your friend in my adult form?"

"Because aniki knows all the ninja, meaning that you won't be able to say that you are one if we stumble across him and all the adult civilians hate me." He stopped for a second before correcting himself. "Well every one other than Teuchi and Keiichi."

Without further argument Rei was placed into a henge of a younger version of her in a black kimono and they set about the village with no particular destination.

As they were doing circuits in the village they ran into various people that Naruto knew, each time introducing them to Rei as a civilian friend from childhood. Naruto was currently introducing her to Konohamaru, the Sandaime's grandson, and his friends Udon and Moegi. Naruto had met Konohamaru through his many dealings with the Sandaime, a thought that made him wince due to the past few days of revelations.

"Naruto-niichan! Naruto-niichan, is that your girlfriend?"

Naruto just turned red faster than a traffic light.

"NO! I mean…no, she's just a friend that has been with me longer than anyone else."

Rei just beamed at his words.

"Well whatever, just don't complain when she gets tak…"

An ANBU had just shunshined into the area and started speaking over Konohamaru.

"Naruto-san, your presence is requested in the Hokage's office." Having delivered his message the ANBU shunshined away.

A frown crossed Naruto's face before heading there with Rei not wanting to leave her there on her own.

-0-

Once Naruto had arrived in the office Sarutobi wasted no time in asking Rei to leave the room as the things he wanted to discus were of a very personal nature.

"Naruto, I'm calling you hear about our conversation yesterday."

Naruto frowned, not wanting to discuss the issue that was still a sore point. Sarutobi not giving him a chance to object continued immediately.

"Yesterday in our conversation you said that you weren't sure if your parents died in 'Rei's attack'. While that wasn't the main part of the conversation, I need to ask, is Rei really who I think she is?"

Naruto looked aghast, realising the slip up that he had made in his rage. No doubt Kakashi would have noticed it as well.

"I need to ask, are you in contact with the Kyuubi?"

"Why should I answer? You kept secrets from me all of my life." Was Naruto's retort.

"Naruto, I do what I do because I have the best intentions for the village and its occupants. Obviously there have been times when my judgment was incorrect but this is something that I must know about. The Kyuubi is malicious and will try just about anything to get out of its seal."

"First off the stop calling her 'Kyuubi', it's a title, not her name. Secondly, she isn't malicious."

Sarutobi would have grinned if he wasn't a ninja. Naruto completely forgot to deny that he was in contact with the Kyuubi, but also gave very strong evidence that he was indeed talking with it.

"You can honestly say that after the attack that nearly razed Konoha to the ground?"

"That was not her fault. She was tricked by someone. She said his name was Madara Uchiha."

"Naruto, that person is dead. He died in a fight with the Shodaime Hokage many years ago."

"I'm simply reporting what I have discussed with her. If you really want to you can discuss it with Rei."

Sarutobi couldn't school his features for this. If anything he was not expecting to be offered to speak with the demon.

"And how would you suggest that I do that."

"You sent her out a moment ago." Sarutobi's eyes went wide with realisation.

Seeing as all of the ANBU had been sent out of the room he ordered Naruto to fetch the girl. As she was ushered in Sarutobi levelled a very calculating look at Rei, while his face looked calm it was clear that he was on guard.

"Kyuubi no Youko, how did you escape from the seal?"

"It's Rei and she is only a kage bunshin. My chakra containing her soul."

"How is that possible? There is a seal that contains her."

"Well if it was possible for chakra to slip through the seal then I figured it was also possible to have her soul get through as well."

Sarutobi nodded at the explanation, understanding the mechanism behind the kage bunshin.

"Naruto tells me that you did not attack by your own will, but you were forced by a man named Madara Uchiha. Explain to me how this is so when he died many years ago in a fight with one of my own senseis."

"I don't know how that is possible. Perhaps he had some sort of life longevity ability. All I know is that he tried to persuade me to join his cause. When I refuse he tried to use force, but I did not react in the way any one would expect to his genjutsu. I was sent into a rage and attacked Konoha."

"Quite a tale. You see for me to believe you it means that I must admit that Madara had a hand in this. While I find this difficult I will simply choose to find more information to come to a conclusion. Another question is why you came to earth in the first place. Why come out of Makai or the plane of the heavens, where ever it was that you resided."

Rei did not answer immediately; she merely looked at Naruto, something that did not go unnoticed by Sarutobi. Naruto chose to speak up at this point.

"If I tell you this, I'm going to want Kakashi-niichan to hear this as well. It is only fair to him."

The Hokage gave a sharp nod before resummoning one of his ANBU and sending them to get the copy-nin.

15 minutes later Kakashi was in the office. He was told that anything less than an immediate attendance for this situation would incur serious penalties. The ANBU in question, wearing a cat mask, had mentioned something about fire and a certain orange book if his presence was not made to the Hokage immediately.

Kakashi had just been briefed about the discussion that Naruto, Rei and the Hokage had just had.

"That is quite a lot to take in all at once." Kakashi stated rather pensively.

"Well now that you are up to date with everything I believe that Naruto was about to explain the purpose behind the Kyuu…Rei'-san's appearance." Sarutobi quickly corrected himself ask he caught Naruto's darkening features.

"Well it starts with my parentage. I belong to two clans; my mother of the phoenixes and my father of the dragons. The phoenix clan is known for their regenerative ability, able to heal most wounds and is reborn from any fatal wounds. It turns out that the dragon clan experience eternal youth and eternal life, barring a mortal death. Given I have the blood of both clans I am actually immortal."

Sarutobi's pipe dropped out of his mouth and Kakashi's visible eye widened considerably.

"Well Rei-san was sent down by Kami to be a companion throughout my life. Eventually all of you will die and I would have been left all alone. Rei-san is here to prevent that."

Sarutobi had a very sombre look on his face, as if coming to grip with the enormity of what he was just told. For the first time in his life Kakashi looked as though he was absolutely stupefied.

"That is…I don't even know how to respond to that." Sarutobi had tried to say something relevant to the situation by was at a complete loss for words.

It was at this point that Rei decided to remind Naruto of his father's letter.

"Naruto-san, remember your father's directive in his letter?"

Naruto looked thoughtful before realising what she meant.

"Hokage-sama, is there any way that I would be able to travel to the mountains separating Suna and Iwa?"

"Why would you need to travel there of all places?"

"In my father's letter he said it was the ancestral home of the dragons and said that it was vital that I visited there."

Sarutobi contemplated the issue before coming to a conclusion.

"I will allow it but you will have to wait for a few days for your travelling partner to arrive. You will be going with one of my ex-students, Jiraiya."

"I was kinda hoping you'd let me go with niichan."

"Sorry Naruto but that isn't an option. I have responsibilities to Sasuke and Sakura as well as you and seeing as they probably shouldn't come along I can't come with you." Kakashi responded, telling Naruto just how impossible it was for him to come. Sarutobi picked up where Kakashi left off.

"You will need to have the best protection available when going anywhere near Iwa at this point."

"Why, nobody knows I'm the son of the Yondaime."

"Iwa's hatred for the Yondaime is so powerful that you wearing a Konoha head band along with the resemblance between the two of you would be more than enough to make you a target."

Naruto nodded and simply asked "When will he get here?"

"I'm not too sure. It could take a while depending on where he has to travel from. Well if you have no further bombs to drop then you are dismissed."

Outside of the office Kakashi suggested to Naruto and Rei that they should head home after all the excitement of the day. As they were nearing home Rei popped out of existence, apparently the bunshin had run out of chakra.

-0-

Naruto awoke midmorning the next day the sun filtering through the gaps in his curtain and onto his face.

'Sunday, no training.' He thought idly. 'Perhaps I should gather the gang together and introduce Haku to everyone. Rei-san, are you there?'

'As always Naruto-san.'

'I was wondering, would you like to meet my friends as well?'

'You would allow me that?'

'Shouldn't I? I'll only call you out later when we are nearer to meeting them. It wouldn't be too good if I said you were a civilian to them and then you dispersed as a kage bunshin. It'd mean that you either knew the jutsu or that something fishy was going on and I'd rather not have to explain.'

'Yes, that would be…problematic.'

After conferring with Rei, Naruto knew what he had to do. First he had to gather his friends and set up with them to meet up with him at some food place. Ichiraku's while his favourite place to eat only served ramen. He'd have to think about a different place to eat for once.

'That barbeque place that Chouji and Shikamaru eat at would be a better pick. Aniki has taken me there so I know they will serve me as well.' Naruto thought to himself, thinking of a decent restaurant to go to that would still serve him.

With that sorted he decided that the quickest course of action would be to send out kage bunshin to look for everyone.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu." Once 11 bunshins appeared he started giving commands. "Right I want each of you to find one of my other classmates and tell them to meet me at the I Ibuki Kafe."

With that done Naruto set off to the Kunoichi only residence to collect Haku. It was a short trek across town via the rooftops and before long he was waiting outside of Haku's apartment door. While he was there he received snippets of information from his dispelled clones, each one telling him that the others would be there waiting for him at the allotted time.

Haku answered the door and was pleasantly surprised.

"Naruto-san, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well with you being new in town I thought you might like to meet some of my friends."

"That would be pleasant." She smiled warmly and stepped out of her apartment wearing a baby blue t-shirt that cut off shortly after the shoulders, a black skirt that went down to her shins and pair of sandals that had strapping going up to her shins where her skirt finished.

Now that Naruto had organised everything he and Haku decided to make their way to the restaurant at ground level. It was about twelve thirty and if they had travelled by the roof tops they would have been waiting for ages before any one showed up. As they walked they talked, but Haku couldn't help but notice some of the looks that were being sent at Naruto. While a great many just chose to look straight through him there was an equal amount that seemed to mutter dark things under their breath and send vicious looks his way.

"Why do you…how do you tolerate such treatment from your own village?"

Naruto looked at her and then had a brainwave.

"I can answer that, but not right here." Immediately he took to the roof tops and waited for Haku to follow suit. From here he made his way to the training grounds with Haku in hot pursuit. Once they had reached one that was on the outskirts of the main part of village he stopped. Thankfully it was empty.

"Now I tolerate it because of what is sealed inside me. I want to change that opinion. Every time they look at me all they see is the image of the Kyuubi and hate me for it."

She was looking at him expectantly. The way he had finished his sentence told her that there was more he had to say.

"What I'm about to do stay strictly between you and me. The only other people that know about this are the Hokage and Kakashi."

"I understand." Was the only reply she gave.

"Well, as I said, they only see me as they Kyuubi, but even their image of her is incorrect. I have been talking with her for a few months now. She is actually a very kind…soul." Naruto finished, almost unsure how to classify Rei.

"Once again you are trusting me with a lot. Why?"

"uhh .. Well the first time was to repay your trust in me for telling me your secret. This time it is because you did not break my trust when I told you mine. In any case the reason I brought you here is because I want you to meet Rei-san."

'Naruto-san are you sure this is a good idea?' Rei asked with a hint of fear. She never received a response, the next thing that she knew she was in the clearing with Haku and Naruto.

After introducing Rei to Haku and then doing the inverse there was an awkward silence between the trio before Rei started to talk.

"Haku-san, I would like to thank you for your actions in wave."

"I'm not sure I follow your meaning Rei-san."

"After you knocked Naruto-san out in your fight he came and visited me in the seal. From that point on I haven't been lonely. I wanted to thank you for this."

Haku was taken aback by Rei's politeness. From what she understood demons were supposed to be vicious and vile creatures; Rei went against that with the way she was currently acting. Wanting to keep the meeting friendly she bowed, only saying that it was of no trouble to her.

"Well now that this is out of the way, perhaps we should get to the restaurant. Everyone else will be waiting for us by now."

The henge was put on Rei, the purposes explained to Haku and then the three set off for the Ibuki Kafe.

True to his words everyone was waiting for them. All twelve were waiting in an outdoor section of the restaurant; they had gathered some tables and put them together to make one large table as the restaurant didn't normally accommodate such a large group without a prior booking.

There were three empty seats between Hinata and Kiba. Naruto helped Haku and Rei to their places before seating himself between Rei and Kiba, leaving Haku to sit next to Hinata. Sai was the first to address Naruto.

"We have already ordered as we weren't sure how long you were going to be. You can order when the waitress comes out next." He informed the new arrivals while handing over a menu.

"So what did everybody else order? I'm having spare ribs and salad." It was Misao; her simple question had ignited a massive to and fro about who was having what, what sounded better and discussion of sharing dishes. In all the chaos of the conversation Kiba managed to whisper into Naruto's ear.

"How in the hell did you get girls like that to come to this with you of all people?" He had a bewildered look on his face as he asked.

"Ease up turbo. Haku-san came back with us from our mission in wave and Rei is a childhood friend."

Kiba simply nodded slowly as he regarded the girls with interest. Naruto, realising his rudeness as well as remembering the reason he brought the girls here, called for everyone's attention.

"Allow me to introduce my friends. Haku-san, Rei, this is the gang." He went around starting with Hinata and moving clockwise as he introduced each person in the group. As each person was announced they each made a small wave to say 'hi' and to acknowledge their name as it was called out.

Several waitresses had come out and were bringing the food that the group had ordered. Naruto, Rei and Haku took this chance to place an order with them.

"Would you like us to wait?" Hinata offered.

Haku simply shook her head and said "By the time our food is ready yours will be cold."

Naruto took this chance to tell everyone about the A ranked mission team seven had been sent on. Their friends made for a good audience, sometimes completely abandoning their food in rapture. It was also different having Haku retell the story with her perspective added in as well.

By the end of the story the food ordered by Rei, Naruto and Haku came out.

"Man, that was quick." Ami commented

"Probably because the order was far smaller than our own that it was pushed to the front and it took less time." Shino thought out aloud.

While the two(bunshin don't eat) made short work of their food, the others had the decency to not just stare as they ate and continued in small conversation.

One they had finished eating they joined into the random conversations. Haku was talking with Hinata; both girls seemed to like making remedies for injuries out of herbs. Rei was listening into all the different conversations when Kiba snickered at Naruto.

"So…you got your butt handed to you by Haku did you? Maybe you're losing your skills."

Unfortunately for Kiba, Sakura had overheard the ribbing and got a devious smile about her face.

"So, Kiba, are you telling us that a girl can't beat a guy in a fight?"

"I…er…well…that is…" Kiba was stumbling over himself, realising what he had gotten himself into. Ino, realising where Sakura was going, started to join in.

"So Kiba, if that really is the case then you wouldn't mind taking Kurenai-sensei on in a proper match would you?"

His pupils dilated, realising what they were talking about. Ami had now joined in on the fun.

"Of course that would require us to explain to Kurenai-sensei why we organised a nothing barred match. I'm not sure how she would react if we told her what you just said.

Kiba blanched, evidently he knew exactly how she would react if they told her any of this.

"You wouldn't." While it was mean to be a statement it sounded more like a question…or should that be a plead.

Misao had the clincher.

"We won't…provided you pay for the girls' meals today." She said with a devious smile on her face.

"But…but…that's unfa…"

"Think about the alternative Kiba." Hinata reminded him

It was as though everybody could see his mind ticking…very slowly.

"Alright…fine…but remember, you promised."

The girls all looked quite happy at not having to pay or their meals while the boys just sweat dropped and shook their heads. Shikamaru could be heard muttering "troublesome" while Sai was talking to Shino about their capabilities as a torture and interrogation unit.

It soon was noted by Misao that it was getting later into the afternoon and she had to head home to prepare for training the next day; it was Monday which meant taijutsu training with Gai. Any one that decided to attend one of his sessions while not fully rested was nothing short of suicidal.

With that in mind the group slowly started to break up and head home.

Naruto walked with Rei and Haku to Haku's apartment block.

"Your friends are an…interesting bunch. I'm glad I got to meet them. I enjoyed myself." She said to Naruto before turning to Rei. "Please it was a pleasure meeting you, Rei-san. Perhaps we can meet again in the fut…." She was interrupted by Rei dispersing.

'Naruto-san, please apologise to Haku-san. I must have run out of chakra. It seems that 6-7 hours is how long the bunshins last.'

"Rei-san says sorry for dispelling before you finished." Naruto conveyed the message.

"It is quite understandable. In any case have a good night Naruto-san."

Naruto nodded and wished her the same before heading home to sleep.

-0-

Naruto woke the next morning at twenty nine past four, a minute before his alarm went off. Apparently his hate for the thing was so strong that his body had learned to wake up that extra little bit early to disarm it so he wouldn't have to hear it. After he had disarmed his alarm he set about dressing in his usual orange jumpsuit that he wore for training as well as missions inside the village, or more specifically, D rank missions.

Once dressed he made his way to the training ground that was used for their taijutsu practice with Gai Maito and his genin team. He got there fifteen minutes early so he started to do some stretches before he was made to kill himself. While he was stretching others rolled up in the fifteen minutes and started to stretch with him. Gai and Lee appeared out of nowhere and started talking at full volume, apparently they had already been on a morning 'jog' and were about to join the rest of the group.

"YOSH! GAI-SENSEI, IT APPEARS THAT THE REST OF OUR YOUTHFUL COMRADES HAVE ARRIVED!"

The rest of the group not so inwardly groaned; even Neji and Tenten, their teammates did not like having perforated eardrums at five in the morning. Gai who wasn't as bad as his student for yelling things at the top of his lungs reduced his volume to slightly under a commanding boom.

"Well, then, seeing as we are all here we will go on a jog to warm up before settling into form practice and spars.

The warm up consisted of three laps around Konoha. Once complete they separated into pair and started sparing. Only two matches were running at any given time. This way Gai could intervene and also give pointer when necessary. This morning Naruto was paired against Sai.

He settled into the clockwise spin stance used for Reikoku Ken-ryuu, he was counting on Sai using his right hand. This immediately put Gai on alert as he had not seen the style in some years.

Sai unsure of what Naruto was aiming to do was wary, when he realised that Naruto wasn't going to move he shot forwards, the whole time keeping his guard up. He launched a straight out left jab. Naruto, realising he was in the wrong stance to rotate and counter attack properly rotated anti-clockwise dodging the initial blow. Sai followed up the jab with a crescent kick from his back foot which was ducked under by Naruto, still maintaining his rotation, as he tried to sweep Sai's supporting leg from underneath him. It had worked and the point went to Naruto for disabling his opponent.

The pair reset their positions, this time Naruto was aware that Sai would be a lot more cautious about he attacked. They were given the signal to begin and Naruto rushed in, using virtually the same opening as Sai, only with his right hand. Sai deftly patted the fist to his left; exactly what Naruto wanted. As his hand went left he spun the rest of his body and tried to land a right elbow to Sai's head. Sai, quickly moving his head out of the way went back in for a counter only to find that Naruto's arm had extended from its strike as an elbow to an extended arm ready to back fist him. He had to duck at the very last second, leaving him in a position that lent itself to neither offence nor defence, so when the follow up roundhouse kick aimed at where his midsection would normally be came, it was blocked. Due to the duck it was in line with his shoulder, jarring it on impact.

"That's enough you to. Time for another pair." Gai's voice rang out across the training field as Hinata and Sasuke went up to spar.

While there were only two matches running at a time the rest were not simply watching and sitting down. They were completing exercises ranging from squats and push ups to beating up on a wooden post in the ground. At no point was there any true rest though this session.

As Sai and Naruto were walking away Sai decided to satisfy his curiosity.

"So where did the new style come from?"

"It's actually from…" he was interrupted as an ANBU black ops agent wearing an ox mask poofed into the training field.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you have been summoned by the Hokage once this is completed.

'Dammit, couldn't he have summoned me now instead of making me answer Sai?'

'If this is about Jiraiya arriving then that certainly was fast. I expected him to be a week or so not a mere three days.'

'The sooner the better. I really want to know about the dragon's sword style and I have a few questions to ask as well.'

"Naruto." Sai called again, this time waving a hand in front of his face to try and get Naruto out of his dream world.

"Oh…right. Sorry Sai."

"So where did that new style come from."

"Oh, it's from my mother's family. Apparently she left me a scroll and I just received it recently." While Naruto had tried to sound happy there was still a bitter edge to his words. No matter how much he may want to it was just too early for him to forgive the Hokage.

Perhaps it was because Sai's curiosity was sated or perhaps he could sense the bitterness in Naruto's words that cause the subject to be dropped almost immediately. The two boys continues with their exercises doing five cycles of 200 push ups, sit up, squats and chin ups.

By the end of the morning most of the group felt that death would have been a merciful release. Fortunately most could laze around for the rest of the day and try to recover for the next day or whatever else they had planned for later on. Naruto was one of the unlucky few that was required to be somewhere immediately afterwards. While his body protested at every movement he practically dragged himself to the Hokage's office.

Upon arrival at the Hokage's office door Naruto simply barged in, not bothering to check with the secretary or to knock. No matter what training undertaken and what improvements made, there were some things that were apparently far to ingrained from his younger days to change.

It was fortunate that the Hokage was only expecting Naruto that day so when Naruto did barge in he wasn't in the middle of anything important; only battling his worst enemy since the great ninja wars – paper work. When he saw Naruto enter unannounced he was happy for the distraction.

"ANBU get Jiraiya." While there nothing detectable happened, there was little doubt that the order would be acted upon.

"I thought you said that it might take a while for Jiraiya to get here."

"I said I wasn't sure how long it would take him." Sarutobi corrected "Apparently he was nearby investigating some promising information."

There was a poof in the area and a disgruntled looking man with a mane of white hair emerged from the smoke cloud that ensued from a shunshin. At the moment he was sporting particularly large purple bruises on his right cheek and left eye.

"Your ANBU interrupted me in the middle of my research."

"We have more pressing issues to deal with, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya school his features and allowed his sensei to continue.

"Naruto, this is Jiraiya, one of my students and a member of the sannin. He will be taking you to where you need to go. He has been filled in on everything that we discussed the other day."

"What? Why? What gives you the right to tell and him the right to know?" It was more of demand that a question.

"Two reasons actually. First is if I'm gonna do this I'm gonna want to know exactly why. Secondly, I was your father's sensei and he made me your godfather." Jiraiya replied for the Hokage.

"You're my godfather? Where the hell were you all these years?"

"Out of town, the main reason was to maintain my spy network for the village."

"And the other reason?"

"You'll get to know when you're a little older." He said with a slightly lecherous grin about his face.

"In any case, you will be leaving tomorrow morning. You need to be packed for a mission that might last a few weeks."

Naruto nodded before Sarutobi spoke up again.

"Naruto, pack for an A rank mission. That means no bright jumpsuits. Going so close to Iwa's borders is always a dangerous gambit."

Naruto nodded, slightly more aware of how dicey things could get if things took a turn for the worse. The Iwa would never miss such an opportunity to take out Konoha Nin and they would not let one of the sannin slip through their fingers.

"Meet me at the western gate at five am sharp ready to leave." Jiraiya told Naruto before leaving the office by way of shunshin.

Naruto went home to pack. When his older brother got home he sought him out and told him the news.

"Aniki, Jiraiya arrived. We're set to leave tomorrow at five. I was wondering, what are you going to tell the others?"

"The truth." Was the simple reply.

"What? You can't possibly mean…" Naruto started, dumbfound that Kakashi would simply blurt his secret.

"All I have to say is that you are travelling to find some clues about your family. They will just have to accept that and if they want to know anything more then they will have to ask you themselves."

Naruto nodded, heading off to finish his packing.

Once he was done he found himself double checking everything.

'Kunai, shuriken, spare clothes, food, and tent. Anything else?' He asked to himself more than anyone else.

'Perhaps you should tell Haku. Your teammates will get told by Kakashi at the team meeting tomorrow, though I'm not sure if anyone will think to tell her. Sakura may work with her but she will likely forget to pass the message on in the midst of her duties at the hospital.'

'You're right. And with Haku not working with me on a regular basis she wouldn't even know that I was missing and wouldn't ask.'

With his mind set Naruto went out to find Haku and tell her what was going on in case she was left out of the loop by the others, even if it was accidental.

A short while later he found himself in front of her door for the second time in two days. He knocked and waited patiently for her to answer. She answered wearing the pink kimono that she wore when she first met him.

"Oh, Naruto-san, are we meeting your friends again today?" Haku greeted.

"Sorry Haku-san, not today. What I came here for was just to tell you that I would be out of town for a while. All my friends will find out tomorrow when I'm not present for training, but I'm not sure if anyone would have told you.'

She smiled at his thoughtfulness.

"Well it seems like a wonderful afternoon. Would you care to take a stroll around the village with me? I haven't really seen too much besides the hospital, the Hokage tower and that restaurant from yesterday."

Naruto smiled at the invitation and stepped aside so that she could step out of the apartment. Instead of stepping out she stepped back in, beckoning Naruto to follow her. Once he crossed the threshold she closed the door behind him. Seeing the slightly confused look on Naruto's face she explained.

"While I'm thinking about it get Rei-san to come out and the three of us can go. A look of understanding came across his face before he grinned and uttered the jutsu name.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu."

Rei appeared in the hallway of Haku's apartment. They put her under the usual henge before heading out.

The trio made their way through the village looking at each of the different stalls that dotted the pathway they were walking.

Naruto then took them to see some of the places he thought they might enjoy. The first stop was to the local flower shop. It was the shop owned by the Yamanaka. As they walked in they were greeted by a voice.

"Welcome to Yamanaka Florists. Oh it's you Naruto-san. What brings you here?"

"Haku-san said she wanted to see more of the village than just the Hokage tower, the hospital and the Ibuki Kafe, so Rei and I are taking her on a tour of the better places in the village." Haku and Rei merely wave at the mention of their names.

Ino just beamed at his words. Shino decided to wander up to the group and join the conversation.

"Whoa, Shino-san? I would have ever expected to find you in a place like this."

"The Yamanaka grow the plants that we Aburame use to make the hives for our kikai bugs." Shino said as he indicated two men talking. One was dresses similarly to Shino himself, with a large white coat and glasses to hide his eyes. The other had long hair in a pony tail, black shinobi pants, a black long sleeved shirt, green jounin vest and red vest slightly covering it.

The two girls were looking between the different flowers, smelling each of their different scents before moving onto the next.

"Well, we can't stay for too long. There is actually a lot to see when you know what you are looking for."

He moved to the door and held it open for Rei and Haku before walking out himself after saying his goodbyes to both Shino and Ino.

The moved their way through the bustling city, eventually finding themselves at Konoha's ninja academy. Naruto walked them through the buildings and practice grounds for the genin hopefuls. Eventually running into Iruka, one of Naruto's academy instructors.

"Naruto, what brings you here?"

"Just showing Haku-san and Rei-san the sites of the city. This is a pretty important place for me. Well, for any person that has become a ninja. So I'd thought I'd share."

Iruka's eye crinkled with a smile that was so similar to that of his older brother, Kakashi.

"Rei-san, Haku-san this is Iruka-sensei, one of my academy instructors."

"So are you two keeping Naruto out of trouble and away from his prankster ways?"

"You used to be a prankster, Naruto-san?" Haku asked with a slightly amused air about her voice.

"Lets leave stories of the greatest for another time?" Naruto evaded sightly

Haku simply chuckled before turning to Iruka.

"Well, seeing as Naruto is going to be out of town for a while we might meet up and then you can tell me all about his prankster ways."

Naruto just groaned before moving onwards. It was getting later in the evening so this would likely be the last place that they would visit before heading home.

The girls were told that it was a way to walk before they got to the last sight that Naruto wanted to see, but when they were walking for nearly thirty minutes through thick forest on a sharp incline they were starting to wonder just where they were heading.

Just as Haku was about to ask how much farther there was to go Naruto suddenly announced that they had arrived at their destination. It took a little while for them to understand what he was talking about until they joined him just outside of the thick forestry.

What they saw took their breath away. They were standing on top of the Hokage monument looking out at the village basking in the glow of the setting sun; a truly magnificent site.

"This place…this is where I come to think, or to just be alone. It's so peaceful, even more so than training ground 44." When he finished a comfortable silence lapsed between the three as they simply enjoyed the sight before them.

Before long it was dark and the sun had completely set. He chose to show them the quick way down; running with chakra sent to the soles of their feet to stick to the face of the cliff. Without even realising it they were standing in front of Haku's door when she turned to say her goodbyes. She turned to Rei first in case she dispelled.

"Rei-san, it was good spending the day with you and Naruto-san."

"I agree. Perhaps we can do this again when…"

'... Naruto gets back. That is incredibly annoying'

'Would you like to be resummoned?'

'No just pass on the rest of the message. Thank you.'

"Rei-san said that she would like to spend the day with you again some other time."

"Good luck with your trip and have a safe journey." She said with a slight bow.

"Thank you and I'll see you when I get back." He responded with a slight inclination of his head.

With his goodbyes said he departed set for his house at top speed to rest for the next day of travelling.

Before he could get to his room he heard Kakashi's voice.

"So did you enjoy yourself?" there was a slight giggle behind his words.

Naruto knowing exactly where this was leading nipped in the bud.

"I was just showing some friends around before I left. Nothing wrong with that is there?"

"Nothing at all. I'm just surprised you aren't addressing them as Haku-chan and Rei-chan."

"Whatever, like I said, were just friends." He groused before heading to bed.

While he was lying there he heard Rei's voice.

'I wouldn't mind you know.'

'Mind what.' Naruto asked, completely thrown for a loop.

'If you addressed me as Rei-chan instead of Rei-san.'

'You wouldn't?'

'Face it Naruto, were gonna be around for a very long time. May as well get familiar with each other.'

She said nothing more on the matter and left Naruto to mull it over in his head while trying to get to sleep.

-0-

He woke that extra minute early as his body was so used to, just to avoid hearing that infernal alarm going off. He got dressed silently, expecting Kakashi to already be heading to the training grounds to train the rest for ninjutsu.

About an hour later, Naruto was ready. He was wearing a pair of black loose pants that was held up by a belt and a black tank top. The rest of his body was covered with a black trench coat not unlike Anko's with an orange spiral on the back. He was also wearing black shinobi sandals.

Naruto grabbed the bag that he packed the previous day before heading to the kitchen for a small breakfast. It was simple, only having a few pieces of fruit before heading out to the west gate to meet Jiraiya. He would be considerably early, but that was better than being late.

When he arrived at the gate he was greeted by Gekko Hayate, his sensei in kenjutsu. He had with him a long thin package.

"*cough* Naruto, I heard that you found some information concerning your family and*cough cough* that you were going to find out more about them. Hokage-sama also mentioned that your family has their own style of swordsmanship. I thought it only fitting that I give you this now as your current sensei, before you find a new one in your new style *cough*." His speech interjected by his usual cough due to failing health.

He handed Naruto the package who took it from his grasp so gently you'd have thought that it was made out of glass. The sheath was plain black with a golden dragon ornament adorning its length about a quarter the way down the entire sheath. The dragon's mouth was open where the sword came out of the sheath, giving the impression that the dragon had swallowed the sword.

When he drew the sword it seemed to hum in his hand. Looking at Hayate he received an explanation.

"You have wind natured chakra as well as a high affinity for fire. That sword was tempered with a special steel *cough* that allows chakra flow to the blade. *cough cough* You can extend some of your wind chakra to it to make it even sharper and slightly longer, this will take practice of course."

Naruto looked amazed, not having anything to say Hayate continued.

"You can also heat it up to a degree." He grinned "Gives an entirely new meaning to 'a hot knife through butter' *cough*."

Upon closer inspection the blade bore the kanji for 'Carve your own path'

Noticing that he had found the inscription Hayate explained.

"*cough* Those were the words my sensei said to me as he passed on my first sword. You now have a sword, how you choose to *cough* wield it and for what purpose are up to you. *cough cough cough*"

"Why give me this?" Naruto asked in a soft voice.

Hayate responded in an even softer voice, "Once I was a genin in a war where 'the fourth hero' saved me as death smiled at me. Why not show appreciation to his legacy?"

Naruto nodded and bowed giving a solemn thanks and a vow inside his own heart not to betray his sensei's teaching.

He was itching to try the sword out but just at that moment Jiraiya had arrived and told him that if he was ready they would leave immediately. Jiraiya gave a short nod to Hayate as a greeting before setting out of the village with Naruto in tow.

-0-

Jiraiya and Naruto had been on the road for a few hours now; there had been little conversation until Naruto asked a question.

"Jiraiya-sama, what were my parents like."

Jiraiya stopped and turned to face Naruto. He had been briefed on everything that the Hokage knew Naruto knew, so it shouldn't have been so surprising when asked.

"Your mother, she was a beautiful woman. She had long red flowing hair and her face was that of an angel. I think the thing that I will remember the most about her is her sense of humour. She was always the one to try and make everyone else laugh, she tried hard in everything that she did and stood up for what she believed in."

Jiraiya took a second to compose himself before continuing.

"Your father was a great man. Not only because of his accomplishments on the battlefield, but in everyday life. He strived to find a solution that suited everybody, he was selfless and he was compassionate. Above all he was fiercely loyal to his village, his friends and his family. While he may have been a compassionate man anything threatened them was taken down mercilessly in the name of preserving what he held dear. I never had kids, but I grew to see him as my own son."

Naruto remained silent thinking about what he had just heard. His parent sounded like nice people.

'I'm sorry. I'm just so sorry.'

'Rei-chan, I've already told you that I don't hold you responsible.' Naruto consoled.

'I know you don't but I still can't help but feel guilty.'

"Would you like to learn a technique that your father used in his days?" Jiraiya's voice broke into his thoughts.

"What kind of technique."

Jiraiya stopped for a second bit his thumb, drawing blood before going through five hand signs and slamming his hand on the ground. Naruto recognised the summoning jutsu and looked at what happened.

"The toad contract. Sign this in your blood and you'll be able to summon toads to your aid in battle."

After signing the toad contract, Naruto asked, "I've been meaning to ask someone about that. If I sign a contract, anyone that I summon will have to obey me, right?"

"Well the obey part is up for debate. The summons boss might not recognise you if it does not feel you are worthy."

"How will you know?" Naruto asked, wondering if it would benefit him to sign the phoenix clan's summoning contract.

"You just gotta take that risk."

Naruto took out the summoning scroll that he had kept with him and bit his thumb so it would bleed and signed the contract.

"Dog, boar, monkey, bird, ram. Kuchiyose no jutsu." He called out the hand signs as he performed them before slamming his hand on the ground as Jiraiya had done.

There was a puff of smoke; when it had cleared Jiraiya was surprise to see a phoenix standing right in front of him. The small bird was a brilliant gold and red colour. It came as a true shock to Naruto when it spoke.

"A new summoner I presume. My name is Shinme. I'm of the phoenix clan as you may have guessed. I am a messenger."

"Shinme-san, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Is there anything you require of me or should I dispel and tell Tobifushicho-sama of our new contract."

"He will accept me?" Jiraiya's words still playing in his mind.

"You are of the phoenix clan so there is no reason that he should not."

"Good. Then, you may do as you please." Much more relaxed.

"Very well then, but before I leave I should impart some advice. Using the 'san' suffix with me and many others is fine, though you should note that there will be some that insists upon the suffix 'sama'. This if for no reason other than respect for the dead."

Understanding lit Naruto's eyes as he thought about how the contract worked.

"Your safest bet is to always use the 'sama' suffix and the summoned will tell you that a more casual suffix is acceptable."

His knowledge imparted he dispelled.

**-0-**

Done with this chapter. Hope you enjoyed this one! I've decided on updating this story at least once a month, three at most. Next year is gonna be trying for me. Its not like I'm struggling with the story, but rather school is taxing and I don't get proper leisure.

For those having trouble picturing Naruto's get up for when he leaves, just think of Kirito from Sword Art Online, minus the strapping on his trench coat and an orange spiral on his back.

Remember, review if you want to and stay safe.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

-kamizon


	8. Training

**AN:** Not too much to say, only thanks to those that reviewed and thanks to everyone that is still reading at this point.

**Chapter ****Eight: Training**

Naruto and Jiraiya had been travelling west for the past three days. They were now just inside the border of Kaze no Kuni. It generally took several days to reach the country's hidden ninja village, Sunagakure, though as they were not in any desperate rush they could travel at a far more sedate pace, rather than going at top speed to their destination. They could also take a little longer with their rest stops at night. It was during these stops that Naruto practiced his summoning, trying to summon out the higher tier summons.

The closest Naruto had gotten thus far to summoning Tobifushicho was to summon a large phoenix; it had more gold than red and had a single black plume on its forehead. Apparently the colour of the phoenix denoted some sort of ranking system. The redder the phoenix was, the younger it was at the time of death. The older the phoenix the more gold it had. Only the truly ancient phoenixes attained black feathers and having a size increase to match. The phoenix that Naruto had summoned was twice the size of an elephant and yet it seemed as though Tobifushicho was far larger than that.

Rei had also been enjoying herself for the most part. When Naruto had first called her out it was also the first time that Jiraiya had seen her so when he did he turned into a large hairy pile of goo. That was something that was going to irk Naruto and Rei for quite some time.

FLASHBACK

"Kage bunshin no jutsu."

"What the hell do you think you're doing this…"

For a short second after Rei was brought out of the seal Jiraiya was stunned by her beauty.

'Whoa! She's hot!' Jiraiya thought excitedly.

"Jiraiya-sama, this is Rei-san. Rei-san this is Jiraiya-sama, a member of the sannin." Naruto introduced.

Jiraiya had out a little note book and was scribbling away. Not sure of what he was doing Naruto simply asked. Upon not receiving a reply he looked at what Jiraiya was writing.

"What the hell? Why are you taking such a detailed description of Rei-san down?"

Rei blushed at Naruto's sudden outburst. Jiraiya ignored him and simply started framing her in his hands before talking about her screen potential, whatever that was. He then proceeded to whip out a measuring tape, but before he could get very far Naruto had conked him quite hard on the head, sending him face first into the dirt.

"Now what are you planning to do with all this."

In response Jiraiya said that she could be a character in his newest edition of Icha Icha. Naruto immediately recognised the book as the one his brother had tried and failed to quit reading, apparently he just couldn't kick out some old habits.

""You're just a pervert! I wonder what would happen if I used…" Naruto trailed off.

"Henge!" Naruto cried out, transforming into the form of a girl with pigtails and the smoke of the transformation jutsu covering nothing but the most intimate parts.

Jiraiya went into his dream world; an absolutely gorgeous red head standing in front of him along side and equally beautiful NAKED blond, he started drooling as he fantasised.

"You really are just a little pervert!" Naruto all but screamed with an accusing finger pointed.

"I'm not a little pervert!" Jiraiya responded indignantly.

"Oh really? And what are you then?" Naruto inquired rather skeptically.

"I'm a super pervert." Naruto was at a loss for words, he couldn't very well insult a man about his perverted ways when he said it himself with something akin to a hint of pride in his voice.

Feeling somewhat defeated Naruto uttered only one more word.

"Ero-sennin."

FLASHBACK END

-0-

In Konoha Naruto's friends had been told of Naruto's absence when they asked and were wishing him the best. It had now been four days since his sudden departure and they were working on chakra exercises. This was one of the times when they were allowed to talk more casually while training. At first they were taught to focus solely on the exercise, but as they grew more and more familiar with the exercises they brought in distractions. After all, while in battle they simply couldn't say to the enemy 'stop attacking, I can't focus my chakra'.

The current topic of conversation was Naruto and his trip, where he was heading and how long it would last. Ino used this as grounds to ask a question that had been on her mind for a few days now, since their visit to the Ibuki Kafe.

"Has anyone noticed Naruto acting different lately?"

The group remained silent for a time before Hinata answered.

"Perhaps you mean about the way he is reacting to finding out he may have family, or at least a family history?"

"No, not that. It's more when he is around Rei-san or Haku-san." Ino redefined.

"I had noticed that he was slightly out of character as well. Particularly with our encounter in your flower shop." Shino contributed, while Ino was nodding in assent.

"What are you guys talking about?" Misao asked completely confused.

"He took Haku-san on a tour of the village and stopped by my family's flower shop. It's just that every time he is with them he seems so much…calmer and even a little more polite."

"Now that you mention it, when we went for barbecue he made sure they had a seat and had ordered before he did." Ami added her thoughts to the pile.

"And when in the flower shop, he showed another act of courtesy by holding the door for the two girls, rather than simply rushing through and allowing them to follow in his wake." Shino said.

"Don't you guys think that you are over thinking things slightly with this? Is it possible that the manners Kakashi-sensei tried to force into his head is finally taking effect." Sai tried to reason with them.

Sakura and Sasuke could understand what Ino was angling at and Sakura added some fat to the fire.

"I wouldn't say that, Sai. After Naruto recovered in wave we all greeted him once he had regained consciousness. I hugged him grateful for him being alive. Haku on the other hand, slapped him, she slapped him hard. Then said something about someone understanding her pain, leaving her, then she kissed him on the cheek she slapped for coming back to her."

"She said she had kissed him for coming back to us." Sasuke corrected, with extra emphasis on the 'us', trying to prevent Sakura from making too much out of it.

"She had to correct herself Sasuke. She said 'me', but changed it to 'us' after she realised what she had said."

"Understand her pain? What was that about?" Kiba asked.

"I've asked both Naruto and Kakashi. Naruto said it wasn't important that I knew and Kakashi said that it was for Naruto alone to tell me."

"Naruto has had Kakashi all his life. What could he have had to endure? Perhaps if we asked Haku we might get a better understanding." Chouji mentioned.

"What has Naruto had to endure? Have any of you ever noticed how some of the villagers stare at him? The look they reserve for him is only one that I would use on my worst enemy. I don't know if the two are related, but it can't be for all the pranks he's pulled. Those stares are just too vicious." Shikamaru replied to his long time friend's question.

"Nobody knows Haku well enough to simply ask her about her history. It may be a rather personal question." Sai ended.

The group nodded their agreement; with nothing further to say on the matter the chakra exercises were resumed in near silence.

-0-

Elsewhere in Konoha a pleasant giggle could be heard accompanying the somewhat heartier chortle a man that was evidently talking with a girl.

"You mean he actually painted the Hokage monument in clown colours?" The girl managed to ask after recovering from fit of giggles.

"Yes, that was one of the more memorable pranks he pulled. It was the last he did before becoming a ninja." Iruka replied, sighing slightly as he reminisced.

"Your ramen is ready." Ayame, the waitress at Ichiraku's ramen stand said as she set down their steaming bowls of miso ramen in front of them.

They continued to talk as they slowly ate their ramen.

"Naruto and his friends, they certainly are close." Haku thought of his friends as they thought about the blonde jinchuuriki.

"Yes, well they are now." Iruka replied, thinking back to how things used to be so many years ago.

Haku gave a slight tilt of her head to show her confusion, Iruka noticed and explained.

"Well years ago not all of them were friends. It started out as Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji being friends and becoming friends with Kiba at some point. Ino was friends by association through their parents. She was more friendly with Sakura. Sakura was picked on as a child; the only person that anybody picked on more was Naruto." Iruka paused to see if she was still following before continuing.

"At some point Sakura stopped picking on Naruto. This worked in Ino's favour; imagine being that young and having to pick between the boys who were already friends and the only girl that could be a real friend."

Seeing Haku nod he continued on with the group's background.

"Then you have Sasuke, Shino and Hinata. Hinata and Sasuke are from prestigious clans and would have been actively encouraged to avoid the group, particularly Naruto. It was difficult for them; both had high expectations thrust upon them by their families and the village. So they were always on their own."

He gathered a breath before continuing.

"Shino is from the Aburame clan, the most anti-social of the Konoha clans. Well these three recluses joined the group after the Uchiha clan massacre. One of their own clan members killed a great many of their number, including his own parents. After that Sasuke seemed to change. He had a higher drive to work. He was top of the class already, but he just seemed to be pulling ahead from the rest of his class more so than before. When his class saw the extra effort they started lifting their game; no one wanted to get left behind. First the boys picked up their act; I can only assume that this is how Shino got involved in the group. Then the girls of the group lifted not wanting to get left behind by the boys and Hinata didn't want to get left behind by the girls and that is how she got into the group. Over the remaining years, three others joined; Misao, Sai and Ami. I guess it was because they set their priorities straight, you know the saying; birds of a feather flock together."

Iruka was getting tired of talking by now, but he decided to finish with one little bit.

"They seem to run like a well oiled machine, but occasionally there are cracks that appear within the group. Ami was one of the one's that used to tease Sakura the most and Sakura teased Naruto rather cruelly when he was the focus. It makes for some awkward moments now and then, either from guilt on one part, or an incomplete trust and insecurities on the other's part."

"That's rather interesting. I thought that they had all just been good friends from the start." Haku mused out loud.

"Heh, hardly. In some cases you would have been forgiven for thinking that they were mortal enemies. Though with the way they work together these days I can understand where you are coming from. With the way they're improving as a unit I can see them cementing a place in our history books one day." Iruka chortled, idly hoping that he might get some reflected glory for being their final year academy teacher if they remembered him years from now.

Haku smiled slightly before turning back to her ramen. Once the food was finished the pair said their goodbyes and parted ways.

-0-

It was now the seventh day of travelling for Naruto and Jiraiya. They were now in the mountain range dividing Iwa no Kuni from Kaze no Kuni. Any absolutely unnecessary chakra usage was expressly forbidden by Jiraiya. It had been a true wake up call for Naruto after that conversation.

FLASHBACK

"What? Why not? Why can't I practice summoning or summon Rei-san?"

"Because using chakra enough to summon will no doubt attract unwanted attention and moving in a number larger than absolutely necessary is foolish."

"But you're a sannin, surely you could be able to take any opponent, even if they were ANBU." Naruto almost whined back.

"I am but you are not. While I'm battling I can't protect your hide as well."

"Err…I'm immortal remember?'

"Moron! When they discover that you are immortal they won't try and kill you, they will try and capture you. Think about that; their interrogators will simply torture you till you die, then start the process over and over. Worse yet, what if they try and use you for breeding stock, to create warriors for their country, for use against fire country? Then your own powers would be used to destroy the village you love."Jiraiya growled back.

"I…I never thought of that."

"You're a ninja, you must think of the worst case. Not planning out your moves could prove to be fatal to you, or more importantly in your case your comrades. Not thinking things through could be disastrous for your village."

Naruto nodded as they continued on their path, having been given a lot to think about.

FLASHBACK END

"Naruto look!" Jiraiya's voice broke him out of his reverie.

He cast his gaze to where Jiraiya was pointing; there was a cave in the mountain side. It was well hidden from view and anyone no looking too closely would have missed it entirely. After a day and a half of searching through the rugged terrain it was the slightest hint of a break through. The cave was on a completely different mountainside to the one they were on. After choosing the most appropriate route getting there they entered the cave.

What they saw inside amazed them, instead of narrowing down like one would expect, the cave opened out into a large circular room of sorts with ten or so pathways each seeming to lead deeper into the mountain.

"Well isn't this something? I was only expecting to find a place to stay for the night while we picked up our search tomorrow." Jiraiya said as he looked about.

"So which way from here?"

"We rest and let some clones do some exploring. It'd be stupid if we got lost and died here."

Naruto snickered.

"It's not that funny, even if you are immortal, I get the feeling that you wouldn't do too much without food and water."

Naruto paled slightly and nodded.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu." Naruto uttered and summoning twenty clones into the open area of the cave. "Well, get to it; start seeing if there is anything worth seeing here." He gave his orders and they all rushed off to do his bidding.

"Why twenty and not ten?"

"In case the caves branch of further." Jiraiya was suitably impressed. The boy was noted for being an idiot when it came to written tests, but when it came to practicalities he seemed just as good as any of the so called geniuses. It made him wonder if these 'geniuses' were actually all that good or if it was something that those around them had blown out of proportion.

As he and Jiraiya sat talking they were surprised when two clones burst into the circular room from different entrances.

"Which entrance did you guys go in?" The bunshin each pointed to the exit that the other had walked out of. Naruto shook his head only to receive a sudden burst of information from two of the dispelled clones. It was the partner of each of the clones present. On had dispelled of its own will after finding a dead end, the other had met its fate by a long fall that was hidden by the darkness.

The other two clones dispelled seeing as they were no longer needed and Naruto moved to make a pile of rocks or something the like that would distinguish the two entry ways from the rest to note that they were not the correct way. He explained to Jiraiya what was going on.

It was a further 4 hours before Naruto received and more information; then in the time span of what only seemed to be a half an hour was able to rule out several more passages. One had a cave in, another was a second dead end and the last was actually a loop that took you back on the same route over and over. The only reason the pair of clones picked up on it in the dark was that one of them made a gouge in the rock with a wind jutsu. It wasn't long before they walked around and it felt the relief of the spiral shaped mark it had carved into the rock.

With only four remaining passage ways left open to them, it was now a game of hoping that the chakra of the clones didn't run out before they made it through the veritable labyrinth of a mountain.

In the two hours that they were waiting, they manage to eliminate two more entrances, one as it lead to a large open area with a small underground lake that went nowhere and the other subject to another cave in.

It was nearing the end of the six hour maximum that Rei had said was the limit for his clone when he received one more piece of information. Burned into his memory was the image of what seemed to be a several small stone huts; the last thing that the clone saw before dispelling. Naruto also took note of the intense heat that the pathway leads to on the way to these huts. It seemed that this pathway took you far deeper into the earth itself.

"It seems that's the path we need to take." Naruto said to Jiraiya, pointing out a cave to his left.

"We'll get some rest tonight and start some time tomorrow, Jiraiya said as he marked the other entrance as 'incorrect'.

Fourteen hours later found Naruto and Jiraiya well and truly down the path that they had deemed the correct one. As Naruto remembered from his clone's experience the heat through this passage gradually raised, it was now sweltering; Naruto had sealed his jacket into a scroll, while Jiraiya's shirt was taken off and tucked into his pants leaving only his mesh to cover his upper body.

"Shouldn't be too much longer now." Naruto mentioned to Jiraiya.

As they rounded another bend Naruto came across the sight they had been travelling for the last six hours. There they both saw with their own eyes what the clones had seen the previous night. Three small huts sat, seemingly carved out of stone, sitting in a cavern illuminated by crystals embedded into the wall.

Outside one of these huts sat some small items of pottery as well as a potter's wheel. Instinctively Naruto moved towards this hut, there was something different about it.

"How was it that you managed to find this place?" a voice from within the hut asked.

"I was directed here by my father. He told me that I was from the dragon clan and that if I wanted to know more then I should come here." Naruto said while hiding his surprise. How could someone live here?

"Indeed, you are of the dragon clan. And yet you are not of the dragon clan. There is something about you that seems abnormal. Something that is not…draconian." The voice replied.

"My mother…" Naruto almost whispered "My mother was a of the phoenix clan." Naruto stated in a more steady voice.

"Well that explains everything. And if I'm not mistaken, your travelling partner is human."

"Correct. This is Jiraiya, my godfather. My name is Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki or more accurately, Naruto Namikaze."

"I see. Now, why have you come here?"

"First of all, to receive instruction in the Dragon's sword style, Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu. And…and to ask about the powers of our clan."

"For now I can agree to the sword style instruction. Depending on what you want to know, I may or may not tell you what you want to know. For today you will rest; your training will begin tomorrow." the voice said going straight to the mark.

"Before we go any further, perhaps it would be best if I introduced myself. My name is Seijuro Hiko." The voice had been given a name as a tall man with long black hair walked out of the hut. He wore a white high collared cloak with a red interior and a matching pair of blue pants and shirt. The most outstanding feature of the man was that he was incredibly well built.

Naruto casually noticed a wooden hilted katana held to his waist by a white cloth tied around his body.

The man indicated that the pair should stay in one of the huts that were apparently unoccupied.

The days that came were tough. Many things had been revealed from both parties. The first question Naruto asked was about how Seijuro could tell that he was not a pure blooded dragon. It came to light that it was just a sense that they came to develop over the years. Naruto had little doubt that this was what had attracted him to Seijuro's hut in the first place, though he couldn't precisely tell what it was, he just knew that something felt different.

It was also from this sense that Seijuro seemed to detect Rei's presence within Naruto. This lead to a lengthy conversation about his father, his mother and the whole incident surrounding his birth. Seijuro seemed indifferent to the news and pressed on with his breakfast.

After breakfast came the training Naruto had been dying for. The session started off with a sparring match between Seijuro and Naruto. Naruto, while not having any true style was not a complete novice with the sword, yet when he versed Hiko, it was as though a wolf had been let into a kennel with a blind new born pup. There was nothing that he could have done

In short order many cuts had appeared all along Naruto's body, each no deeper than a paper cut; a true testament to Hiko's control over his blade. Naruto could not believe that the man had landed so many hits in such a short amount of time; it made his previous sensei, Gekko Hayate look almost like a novice.

"It seems we need to work on your speed above all else." Seijuro said to Naruto as he observed the healing power of the Phoenixes kick in and reseal the cuts that appeared all over his body.

Naruto had been expecting to at least be able to defend against the man. What he encountered was on a whole other level. The rest of the day was spent learning three of the most basic techniques used. The first was battoujutsu, sword-drawing techniques, the second was an opening move, do-ryu-sen. Do-ryu-sen relies on the speed of a swing to send earth in the same direction as the swing. A horizontal swing will send large chunks at the enemy, while a vertical swing can leave a fissure in the ground, causing a loss of footing. Battoujutsu is a technique that leaves the user open to counter attack if it misses, to negate this, an additional swing is made using the katana's sheath, this move is called sou-ryu-sen.

By the end of the day Naruto had managed to perform the battoujutsu and the sou-ryu-sen with the correct motion, all that remained was for him to be able to perform the techniques at a far higher speed in order for them to be effective. The sou-ryu-sen was not as simple. For a great while there was no visible change to the earth no matter which swing style he used. After swings numbering in the high hundreds he was slowly getting more and more frustrated.

"Sensei, would you mind demonstrating again?" Naruto requested.

Wordlessly, Hiko performed the technique, first a horizontal swing, sending stones between the size of a man's fist and a human head, flying in the direction of his swing. Then he performed the vertical swing leaving a one foot wide fissure for 20 meters ahead of him.

"The ground here is not the same as that on the surface. If you look closely you will see hair line fractures from your vertical slashes and small chips in the ground from your horizontal strikes. The ground is far harder here so it is also far harder to actually rip it asunder." Hiko advised.

Naruto practiced his swings for the next two hours, until pebbles started to get launched or cracks of little under a centimetre appeared.

"That will do for today." Seijuro said "Dinner time.".

It had taken a short while for the meal to be prepared, Naruto and Jiraiya were eating from the stored food that they had packed, Hiko had cooked rice with some water, apparently that gathered from the underground lake. The meal was eaten in silence until Naruto decided to try and get an answer the question his parents had tried to find the answer for.

"Seijuro-sensei, when we first met I said that I wanted some information about the clan and you said that you may or may not tell me. Well my father said that the immortality the Dragons possess, as well as the Phoenixes, is granted by the gods. I was wondering, what it was that made the gods decide to bestow such a gift?"

Seijuro looked rather contemplative as he tried to think of an answer.

"I won't lie, but I won't tell the truth either, at least not in its entirety. I am not permitted to tell you the exact details."

Naruto looked ready to hear anything. He was completely tuned into what his sensei had to say.

"It was a gift for the clans' beyond spectacular performance in the first ninja war. There are other clans that were also similarly rewarded."

"Spectacular performance in the first ninja war?"

"Correct."

"And one more question, if I'm allowed. How do we have a summoning pact with the Shinigami-sama?"

"Again, I cannot tell you everything, but I will tell what I can. As you know, we are immortal. Well the story starts out with one of the earliest clan leaders losing his wife in the first ninja war. He lived for some time after her death. One day he went to the Hall of the Eight Fathoms, a place where it is possible to speak with the gods. There he made a pact with Shinigami-sama. It is seen was dishonour to commit suicide within our clan, to die a coward's death and to run away from a fight."

Hiko paused to see if Naruto was still following.

"This man implored Shinigami-sama to reunite him with his beloved, even if it was in death. And so it was done, but the Shinigami-sama is a god that believes in universality, or perhaps its just has a sick form of humour. In any case the same deal was given to all those in the Dragon clan and it became that when a pair mated, they mated for life, because if one died so would the other. Well any way, as I said, Shinigami-sama is one that believes in universality, death being a good example. So then why should one have a pact with death when nobody else did? And so the reaper summoning was formed, it is not actually a family summon per se as anyone who knows the necessary hand seals and has the sufficient chakra can perform the summoning."

Naruto nodded in mutely understanding before finding a flaw in the explanation.

"That sorta makes sense. The thing is, why would Shinigami-sama apply the summoning to all, but death of your wife or husband to only the Dragon clan?"

"There are things that I have deliberately left out, knowledge that can only be passed on from one clan leader to the next. I must go and prepare a few things for tomorrow morning." With that Hiko bid them farewell and left for his hut.

The next morning Naruto was awoken to the sound of a loud clanging by his head. He woke with a start before seeing what appeared to be a pair of bracers, leg guards and some new clothes.

"Wear those when you train. This is to build the speed and strength required for Hiten Mitsurugi. They are made from a special ore found within this mountain range that is naturally quite dense. They have the ability to store chakra, making them even denser. Eventually when the time comes you can withdraw the chakra within them giving you extra chakra and reducing the weight."

Naruto eagerly donned the new gear, understanding the two fold benefit when he was used to them at far higher weight after chakra usage.

The day was spent doing much of the same activities as yesterday, practicing the techniques he had learned as well running with the weights on to improve his speed. By the end of the day he felt exhausted, admittedly not as exhausted as a training set with Gai, but exhausted none-the-less.

The next day Jiraiya approached Seijuro about needing to return home with Naruto,

"Hiko-san, I must advise you that this may well be our last night with you. Our food supplies are running low and Sarutobi-sensei only gave me a limited amount of time for this. I need to be back on the outside shortly as both Naruto and I have responsibilities to attend to."

"Wait…can't I simply stay here and train under Hiko-sensei?"

"No. You have things that you need to do on the outside." While Naruto could not think of a single pressing thing that he had, he knew that Jiraiya most likely would and the tone that Jiraiya was using was one that would brook no argument.

"In that case, I will teach you two more techniques and a variation to go with one of the first. I expect you to practice them all in you free time. This technique is called ryu tsui sen. It is not a particularly elaborate move; it simply entails jumping high into the air and slashing down from the opposite shoulder that the sword is wielded from. The variant is simply a stab instead of a slash and it called ryu tsui sen zan. The other technique is ryu kan sen. This is a counterattack move where you must use the full speed required of Hiten Mitsurugi to sidestep the initial strike and then strike out at the opponent's neck. This move is redundant against enemies that are faster than you are." Hiko said to Naruto, demonstrating each technique as he went along.

The rest of the day was spent practicing these techniques. Naruto could practice the others in his own time back at Konoha and the training with the new equipment was something that he could do practically 24-7 just by wearing the equipment. He needed to learn the actual technique so that he wouldn't practice it incorrectly when on his own.

While Hiko had said that the neither ryu tsui sen nor the ryu tsui sen zan were particularly elaborate, it was still difficult to master as it was difficult to put any real power behind the blade and he was jarring his body as he made the attacks when he connected with his sensei's blade. It wasn't until he was instructed to shift his body weight that things more or less fell into place. He wasn't having any real effect with his strikes against Hiko, but the man was insanely powerful. The main benefit was that he wasn't so shaken up after each strike and he could feel that the blow was more powerful than before.

That night they shared their last meal together. Normally the meals were eaten in silence, but tonight the meal was somewhat more light-hearted, with idle banter and some teasing on Hiko and Jiraiya's part when Naruto had been goaded into letting Rei out. She had been kept inside the seal for the past few days as there really wasn't all that much to see and Naruto had said that the seal was probably more pleasant than the hot mountain's core.

Hiko had accompanied Naruto and Jiraiya as far as the circular room with many entrances on their journey home.

"Naruto, before you go there are a few things that you might like to know. The first is that you are welcome to come back to further your training in Hiten Mitsurugi. The second is that while I couldn't tell you everything about how we got our power immortality, if you want further answers then you must seek out the true reason behind the ninja wars."

Jiraiya looked at him very skeptically and filed the information away for later use.

'The reason for the ninja wars? I thought it was all just a bid for power by each of the five elemental nations.' Jiraiya thought.

"We really can't stay much longer. We have already stayed longer than I intended. We bid you farewell. Have no doubt that we will see you in the future." Jiraiya said his goodbyes as he turned to walk out of the cave.

"Before I leave, would you be able to tell me where the Hall of Eight Fathoms is?"

Hiko looked at him long and hard before responding.

"It's found on the western most point of the eastern continent, though as you are the gods will not listen to you or answer your questions. You must be of the same level as the ones that earned the gift of immortality."

'Thank god. I thought he was about to say that I had to be the clan leader. I'm getting seriously sick of hearing that I can't know because I'm not the clan leader.' With these thoughts running through his head, Naruto bowed to his sensei and left without another word.

It was some hours before either Naruto or Jiraiya spoke on the way home.

"Ero-sennin, do you know anything about the truth behind the ninja wars?" Naruto asked, still using the name he had called Jiraiya in his frustration over his perverted behaviour.

"Dammit, are you still calling me that?" Jiraiya grumbled back.

"You are supposed to be a sannin, a powerful ninja and you claim to be a sage of the toad arts. You are also happen to be a mega pervert. I included both aspects in the name."

Jiraiya mumbled something about stupid prepubescent brats and their lack of appreciation for the fine feminine form.

"Well do you know anything?" Naruto pressed on.

"I originally thought that the origin was of the elemental nations pressing for power over more land; just a battle for total supremacy. But in the context of what is happening it doesn't make sense. Why would a god give a clan such an incredible gift for out stripping others? There has to be something more behind this.

Naruto nodded in understanding, Jiraiya had given him some food for thought. Perhaps he could ask the Hokage and see what he knew.

Naruto and Jiraiya had made good time in getting back to Konoha, which was now just visible on the horizon. They were rapidly approaching the village and it would only be several more hours before they were at the village's gates. Naruto was wearing the special clothes that Hiko had given him and was now starting to realise just how much they hindered his movement as he wasn't covering ground anywhere near as fast.

"Brat, before we get into the village I just wanted to talk to you about your sword techniques." Jiraiya called to Naruto while still moving at high speed

"Yeah?"

"If you can avoid it don't tell anyone about your techniques or anything else that you may have up your sleeve. If possible, reveal nothing at all."

"So I can't even tell my friends?"

"No, you'll find out by the end of today why not."

Nothing significant was exchanged between the pair for the remainder of the trip, though the faint whisper's of ramen from a certain blond, while a dreamy look came over his travelling partner's face every once in a while.

Once at the western gates that they had left from roughly two weeks prior their papers were checked, which took an unusually short amount of time, perhaps being in the presence of one that was practically at kage level made them smarten their act for at least five minutes.

Naruto was told by Jiraiya to do whatever he wanted to do for the time being.

Jiraiya in the mean time went and reported to the Hokage. As soon as Naruto disappeared from his he shunshined directly into the Hokages office; to his credit if the aging man was startled by his student's sudden appearance he didn't show it.

"Well? What happened? Did you find anything out?"

"A couple of things actually. The first is that the gift of immortality he possesses is actually a gift from the gods to his clan. The gods apparently gave the gift for brilliant performances in the ninja wars."

"That is quite interesting."

"There is more, apparently there is some connection behind the gods giving the gift and the true meaning of the wars."

"You mean there was a hidden agenda behind that of simply obtaining more land?"

"Supposedly yes. The man that said so, Seijuro Hiko is the leader of the Dragon clan. He apparently knows quite a bit about the matter, but would not share; not even with Naruto, he did say that he would tell Naruto if he became the clan leader. Speaking of, Naruto has to go back when he is sixteen to be tested as a potential leader. Hiko also left the invitation for him to develop his sword skill in the future if he wants to return."

"Well, I will give these matters careful thought. In any case I will need to inform the jounin senseis that you have returned so they can inform their charges about the upcoming events."

-0-

Naruto meanwhile had raced home in hopes of seeing his older brother. After changing from his black attire to orange, he searched the house; having no luck there he went through the village, checking the most likely places that he would find all turning up with nothing. He decided to check the training ground that the group usually went to in hopes of at least finding someone that he knew there.

He arrived to the odd call of a jutsu being announced, looking around he saw charred trees and great mounds of dirt displaced; then he saw just about everybody that he associated with at the training ground. All the rookies and nearly every jounin sensei was there; the only person missing was Gai Maito.

"What the hell are you training us all this hard for? The normal training is impossible, but for the last week it's been like you're trying to kill us." There could only be one person that would moan that much about the training they were given; Shikamaru.

"You never change do you Shikamaru?"

"Naruto, you're back?" It was Kakashi that asked.

"Just then actually. So you guys have been getting your butts handed to you have you?"

"You could say that, though it would probably be more accurate to say that it's been taken away and not being given back." It was Misao trying and failing spectacularly to paint a more vivid picture.

"O…K…what the hell?"

"Well normally they'd be nice enough tho give it back to us, but for the last week they've been taking our butts; making us grow new ones then taking them as well." The group just sweat dropped at the sheer pointlessness of the statement.

"Right, well anyway, we didn't want to tell you why were training you hard till Naruto got back so we could announce it to you as a group. All your jounin senseis, Gai included, feels that you are all powerful enough to take the chuunin exams."

Some of the group, namely Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba and Ami looked excited at the prospect, most looked thoughtful about the idea. Only one person looked as though they had their own personal raincloud raining on them, Shikamaru was not entirely impressed; something he decided to voice with the least amount of effort possible.

"Troublesome."

**-0-**

**AN:**

Ok, I'm well aware that there are inconsistencies and bits of information that don't make sense, this is intentional. The information given is only what I want the characters to know. When everything is laid out it should all fit into place nicely (I hope). I can only pray that you all don't get annoyed with me and just stop reading because I'm taking so long.

Obviously the next chapter or so is gonna be the chuunin exams. I'm still not sure if I'm gonna do it all in one hit or break it up, depends on how large the forest of death ends up being.

In other news: I've began work on another story. This time its my own. Chapter one is already written. Yeah, I'm sure its gonna affect this one. I might take this one down, unless you guys discourage me.

Until next time.

-King K


	9. Chuunin Exams Round One

**AN:** What's Up guys! Ok, i know i haven't updated in a while(one month still qualifies as a while) but here is the new chapter... well part of the new chapter. Chapter nine is still incomplete but i felt i couldn't enter another month without an update in the previous.. When I'm done with this chapter I'll replace this one..

**Chapter Nine: Section One: Chuunin Exam Round One**

It had been two days since Naruto had arrived back home in Konoha. Two days since the group of rookies had all been told that they were being recommended to compete in the chuunin exams. Their jounin senseis had told the group that this was more for the experience than anything else; if anyone made chuunin it would be seen as an added bonus.

It had also been two days since Naruto and Shikamaru had stumbled across a team from the sand village.

_FLASHBACK_

"_Come on_ _Shikamaru__,__s__urely you aren't so lazy to miss the chuunin exams?"_

"_S__urely__you have noticed that square rock that's__ following us."_

"_I have, I'm trying to ignore it__,__ and stop trying to change the subject."_

_Konohamaru, hearing that his rival in attaining the position of Hokage was trying to ignore him immediately got his panties in a twist and tried to make a flashy entrance._

_BOOM._

_The box had exploded and Konohamaru and his friends Moegi and Udon could be seen coughing in the clearing smoke._

"_You can't ignore me; I'm your eternal rival." He brazenly declared._

_Both Naruto and Shikamaru shuddered at his choice of words._

"_Konohamaru, I'm kinda busy, trying to get the laziest person in this village to compete in the chuunin exams."_

"_You mean him? Why don't you get his girlfriend to try?"_

"_You have a girlfriend? How much changed while I was away?" Naruto asked incredulously._

"_I don't have a girlfriend." Shikamaru snapped irritably. "Asuma-sensei was talking about how apparently we choose girls most like our mothers, which is why he said that Ino must be my perfect match."_

"_Shikamaru and Ino sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes __a __bab__..__."_

_Apparently this little chant was the last straw for Shikamaru, because he actually did something that involved energy and started to chase Konohamaru. Meanwhile Naruto started laughing; his laughter was to be short lived when Konohamaru ran straight into a boy wearing what appeared to be a black cat suit with purple face paint on._

"_Ouch, you little brat! I'll teach you __to __watch where you're going from now on."_

_The boy grabbed Konohamaru and lifted him clean off of the ground._

"_What do you think you are doing?"_

"_Teaching this brat to watch his manners."_

"_Kankuro, let him go and let's leave." A girl with blond__e__ hair tied into four pony tails and a large metal object tied to her back tried to reason with him._

_The boy, now identified as Kankuro appeared not to be even listening to the girl._

"_Just so you know; you're holding the Hokage's grandson there. I don't think he'll be impressed if you lay into him."_

"_I'm the son of the Kazekage, so he should also respect me." Kankuro, countered with a mean smile about his face._

"_So you're both related to kages, but you're a ninja. Attacking a Konoha citizen, a child no less, __hmmm,__ I hate to think what our ANBU would like to do about protecting our citizens." Shikamaru added, gaining some true leverage over the situation._

_That actually put some fear into him. No matter whom he was related to, attacking a citizen for something as trivial as this would guarantee a reprimand that would be no laughing matter. Just as he was filtering through the new argument a third person from the sand village joined the commotion._

_He had flaming red hair and a gourd on his back._

"_Kankuro, release him." Unlike the blonde girl, this boy was listened to immediately._

"_Gaara, sorry, he star…"_

"_Shut up." Gaara interrupted; his voice like ice._

"_I apologise for my teammate's idiocy. I am S__a__baku no Gaara. My teammates are Temari and Kankuro." The invitation was left for Naruto and Shikamaru to introduce themselves; something that Shikamaru did hesitantly._

"_Shikamaru Nara and that is Naruto Uzumaki. I assume you are here for the chuunin exams."_

"_Correct. I look forward to seeing you in the exams." Gaara said as his farewell bidding before turning on his heel and heading away._

_Naruto, for his part was having a score of different thoughts running through his head._

'_He feels like Hiko-sensei. Does that mean he's a Dragon too? No he doesn't feel like Hiko-sensei, he just feels different from Shikamaru.'_

'_Naruto-kun.'_

'_Rei-san?'_

'_What you sense, I sense it too. It's familiar, but I can't quite place it.' Rei advised._

'O_k.' He paused for a second before asking 'Since when am I Naruto-_kun_? It was always Naruto-san.'_

'_Since I became Rei-_chan_.'_

'What? _I never called you that__!__'_

'_You did, when you summoned me in front of Jiraiya.'_

"_NARUTO!" Shikamaru was now yelling. "How the hell can you zone out when such a freaky guy is about? Sheesh."_

_FLASHBACK END_

_-0-_

It was only a further two days until they were due to take the first exam of the three part exam. Naruto and Shikamaru had told the others about the encounter they had with the sound team and advised the rest to use caution around them, particularly the red head.

The two days had come and gone rather quickly. The teams had been set out and the only thing left to do was to arrive at the exam room for the first exam.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were all walking up to the designated room for the exam; room 301 of the ninja academy.

Having walked up only one set of stairs they immediately knew something was off when they saw a sign saying '301' one floor to early. A quick check showed them that a genjutsu was in place. There were two people standing either side of the supposed room '301' as though they were standing guard.

The three saw Neji, Tenten and Lee demanding that the guards allow them into the room. Just as the group tried to walk past, they were stopped.

"You guys are way too green to be doing this exam. People have died doing this you know?" One of the pair started.

"You guys should just thank us for saving you and go home." The other continued.

"We've spotted the genjutsu so just let us past and everything will be fine." Sakura said in as quite a voice as possible, trying not to alert any teams that might have been coming up the stairs to the trick, hoping to reduce the competition.

The pair gave a disbelieving look at each other before allowing the trio to pass. Neji and his team used this as their way past as well before stopping Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura.

"Do not think you are any better than the rest of us. By the end of these chuunin exams I will have put you and all your silly friends in their place. I will use this exam as a stage to prove my superiority to both Hiashi-sama and Gai-sensei."

"Neji, stop this. They haven't done anything so don't go looking for trouble before the exam starts." Tenten tried to reason with him. Neji sent them a parting glare before walking past them, taking care to brush against each of them in turn.

"I apologise for my teammate's unyouthful behaviour. We may be on different teams, but I will do my utmost to protect a fellow Konoha ninja.

When Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto walked into the exam room the immediately saw the rest of the rookie group.

"Hey Shikamaru, you decided to come after all?" Naruto greeted.

"Your one to talk, we thought you weren't going to show at all with how late you are." Kiba replied as he strolled up with the rest of the group.

"Were later than you, but still on time so what's the problem." Sasuke replied indifferently.

"You poor little things, you guys have no idea how things work around here. Maybe I should give you a hand."

"And who are you?" Ino questioned the bespectacled, silver haired teen that had abruptly started talking to them."

"Forgive me, my name is Kabuto Yakushi. You guys are making a fair bit of noise so I thought I'd do the friendly thing and just warn you that you are making yourselves a walking target."

The group turned to the rest of the examination room to see practically every pair of eyes trained on them giving heated glares.

"To hell with them. If they really want a piece they can form a line and I'LL TAKE 'EM ALL DOWN ONE BY ONE." Naruto declared raising his voice for the last part to ensure that the whole room heard.

"Not a quiet one, right? No never mind." Kabuto gave Naruto a funny look before turning to the rest of the group.

"So is there anything you wanna know about, I can tell you a fair bit."

"Have you done these exams before?" Hinata asked.

"Six times before, I'm what you'd call a veteran."

"I'm not so sure we should be taking advice from people that fail that many times." Misao piped up.

"I have information on competitors if you'd like that." Kabuto offered.

"What countries are competing this year?" Shikamaru asked. If he asked the question he had in mind, about Gaara's abilities, he would undoubtedly draw unwanted attention from the boy.

"Well there are thirteen teams from sand, ten teams from Rain, five from grass, four from waterfall, one each from sound and lightning and twenty seven from fire."

"What do you have on the teams from sand, sound and lightning?"

"There isn't anything exceedingly special about either sound or lightning, but there is one standout team from Suna. The team consisting of the Kazekage's children. The real mystery of that team is Sabaku no Gaara. He's done eleven C rank missions and a B rank, they say all without ever returning injured."

"The hell?" Kiba voiced. A C rank without damage, well that was possible, though not probable, though a B rank and no damage, something was awry.

The rest of the rookies took in the information and decided that avoidance as Shikamaru and Naruto had suggested was the best course of action.

Just as Kabuto had said this last part he was attacked by several ninja wearing hitai-ates bearing a musical note; evidently from the sound village. One drew back his sleeve and swung a roundhouse punch at Kabuto. Kabuto dodged rather nimbly and appeared to be fine, till his glasses shattered; he lost his balance then fell to the floor and vomited.

"Still think that there isn't anything special about the team from hidden sound?" The girl of their team sneered at him while Sakura ran a diagnostic jutsu before healing his perforated eardrum.

There was a large poof of smoke and before them stood twelve people in grey uniforms along with a tall man in a bandana wearing a black trench coat.

"Alright you sick, baby faced degenerates, that's more than enough. There will be no fighting in these exams without the proctor's clearance. Understood? Anyone going against that can leave now."

"Sorry, we have some extra energy from all the excitement." A boy that had more of a resemblance to a mummy than a human tried to justify.

The man just ignored him and continued.

"My name is Ibiki Morino; I'm the proctor for the first exam. Get to a seat, no sitting next to teammates... Well? Stop staring and get to it!"

Everybody scrambled to a desk at his command after momentarily being dumbfounded.

"Right this exam is a written test."

'Are you kidding? I suck at these.' Naruto thought dejectedly.

"Listen up, I have to tell you the rules for this exam, and I won't be repeating myself so listen properly. The rules are as follows. You start out on full marks when you get your paper. For each of the questions you get wrong you lose a mark. If you are caught cheating you lose two marks."

'Great! Any other ways for me to fail?'

"Furthermore, if you get caught cheating five times or don't get any questions right and score a zero, then you along with your teammates will be disqualified.'

'Oh…crap!'

"Right, you all have your tests on the desk, so begin."

'Right, let's just see what the questions are like before I completely throw in the towel…these are freaking impossible. Even Sakura and Shikamaru would have trouble with these. Still, not so bad as Iruka-sensei's tests, if you're caught cheating in one of those it's an instant fail.'

After looking at the questions he realised what he had just run through in his head.

'Wait, I don't fail immediately for cheating and I only have to get one question right so I don't fail. Basically, I have five shots to get one question right. May as well have some fun doing it.'

It was about fifteen minutes into the exam when the apparently calm Naruto requested to go to the toilet. He went accompanied by one of the male chuunin. Ten minutes later he came back looking rather relieved, the chuunin chaperone came back looking rather disgusted, and it became apparent to everyone in the exam room why. Naruto stank, as he took his seat somewhere near the middle those that he passed by recoiled in disgust at the vile smell that assaulted their nostrils. Kiba and Akamaru could be seen desperately trying to cover their noses. Ibiki gave him a stern look before continuing watching the rest.

Naruto sat there for the next five minutes looking as calm as he had for the whole exam when all of a sudden there was a massive wind from outside. The wind shattered the windows, blew papers everywhere and even sent some people flying.

It was absolute mayhem and inside it all many of the Suna nin had been grilled about disrupting the exam, after all, the wind responsible could only have been a jutsu, and what better village for wind jutsu than the wind village itself.

When the commotion was over and every one had their tests back there were four people that noticed that their test were still absent.

"You will be re-issued tests." Ibiki told them.

"But we had questions answered." One of the examinees whined.

"That's your problem, not mine."

Naruto, still looking calm started filling out his test.

"Pencils down! Times up! I have one more question to give. Listen well, because there are rules that are specific to this question."

He surveyed the group, noting that he had their attention he continued.

"Rule one, you may choose whether or not to take this question."

"Wait, if there is a choice, why bother taking the extra risk? If we have our questions answered correctly then why risk it?" a random genin from Konoha asked.

"Shut up and listen, I'm not done yet. If you choose not to take it then you and your teammates are disqualified."

"Then of course we'll take it!" The same genin yelled out.

"I SAID SHUT UP! If you take the question and get it wrong then you not only fail, but you will be barred from _ever_taking the exams again."

"Wait, what? That's crap! There are people that have taken the test before and are taking it again."

"You're just unlucky I'm making the rules." Ibiki replied with a smile that looked as though he was the cat that ate the canary.

"That's it, I'm out, it's too much to risk." One genin yelled out, he walked out with the rest of his teammates.

Following this there were many calls from other teams that they too would not take the risk.

Naruto out of the corner of his eye saw Sakura raising her hand, he wasn't sure what the hell she was doing but surely she wouldn't say that she too couldn't handle it.

It really did seem as though Sakura was going to try again next year, he had to do something.

"You know that has to be the stupidest rule in history!" Naruto cried out. "And still I'm gonna sit through it. So what if I can't become a chuunin, I'll just jump from genin straight to Hokage, and then when I _am_ Hokage, I'll make sure that you do nothing but Retrieve Tora missions for the rest of your career!"

The outburst had two effects. The first was to make every Konoha ninja shudder at the thought of nothing but rescuing Tora for the rest of their life. The other was to put some backbone behind the rest of the genin, Sakura had lowered her hand and nobody else was quitting.

"You're quite sure? This decision will affect the rest of your life." Ibiki tried to just get a few more to quit.

"I gave you my word, and I'll never go back on it, that's my nindo." Naruto replied, full of confidence.

"Very well then, the only thing left for me to do is to inform you that YOU PASS."

'Wait what about the tenth question." The blond girl, Temari, asked.

"There wasn't one, or more accurately it was the decision between two impossible choices. Let me give you a hypothetical, you are asked to retrieve the plans invasion force from enemy an enemy camp. It is likely that they know you are coming and have prepared accordingly. Do you (A) not accept the mission because of the risk and try to do it when there is no risk of failure, or do you (B) continue one, trying to gain the information that could save your village. Those that choose the soft option and chose to save their own necks over their comrades or simply choose not to run the mission because of the risk of death have no right to call themselves chuunin."

"So the first nine questions were a waste of time?"Temari asked.

"Hardly, that was a test to see your information gathering skills in the most adverse of situations. You will find that throughout your career that information can be the most precious thing on the field of battle." He said as he took off his bandana revealing a horribly disfigured scalp, the remnants of having being tortured for information.

"However, bad information is better than no information. In this example, if the enemy discovers you, they can change their plans and set a trap. Your information gathering skills must be flawless."

At that he decided to actually find out who the outrageous person that wrecked havoc earlier.

"Speaking of information gathering, who was it that actually pulled that stunt earlier? I have my suspicions."

All eyes around the room focussed on the nearest Suna ninja, expecting an explanation. What many did not expect was for Naruto to raise his hand and take responsibility.

"Sorry about that. Well, I knew I had no real techniques for information gathering, at least not in this situation. So I went to the toilet. While I was in there the chaperone may remember me making a lot of noises pretending to try and do a number two."

"Please keep the details to a minimum; that is something I'd rather forget." The chuunin in question responded with a grimace.

"Well after making noises like I was constipated, I dropped a kunai in the water, making the splashing sound. The smell came from one of my unused stink pellets from my prankster days." Many of the other chuunin smiled each remembering a prank he pulled and the chase that ensued.

"Well the smell was bad enough for you to need to vomit, so I used that chance to create kage bunshins. Once we left the toilets they left and went outside after assuming different forms under a henge. From there they used daitoppa to create the disturbance and then stole some papers. They read them through, dispelled and the information they absorbed came to me."

"Well, not too bad kid. Not only did you manage to get the info you needed you managed to pin it on someone else. Everyone was looking at the Suna nin as the culprits."

Just as he finished another man wearing a bandana walked in, this one was wearing a pair of round sunglasses, and blue long sleeve shirt, pants and shinobi sandals. It was Konohamaru's personal tutor Ebisu.

"Ibiki-san, you left far too many of them."

"They are an exceptional bunch this year, Ebisu."

"Well I will judge for myself." Ebisu snorted, while turning his nose up at the genin.

"You are all dismissed for the day, you are to meet at training ground forty four tomorrow at seven am."

-0-

**AN:** yh yh yh.. The rest will come sooooon! Patience! I'm still in my exam period...

-king k


End file.
